Date:	Sunday 13 June 1943
Time:	02:11
Type:	Avro Lancaster B Mk III
Owner/operator:	83 Sqn RAF
Registration:	ED603
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	IJsselmeer off Friesland -   Netherlands
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Wyton, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:	RAF Wyton, Cambridgeshire

Narrative:
Hit by flak during a raid on Bochum. Shot down by Hauptmann Rudolf Sigmund of the 10./NJG 1 (flying a Bf 110 G-4 from Bergen or Leeuwarden airfield) during the return leg to the U.K.

The crew were - Pilot - F/Lt Eric A. Tilbury - RAFVR - Age 25, Flight Engineer - P/O Arthur B. Smart DFM RAF, Navigator - P/O Harold E. Howsam - RAFVR - Age 31, Bomb aimer - P/O A. Gordon Fletcher - RCAF - Age 21, Wireless Operator - F/Sgt Raymond E. Moore - DFM - RAFVR, Air Gunner - P/O Charles F. J. Sprack - DFM - RAFVR - Age 24, Air Gunner - F/O Gordon R. Sugar - RAF - Age 22.

Call Sign: OL-L
Takeoff time: 23:01
Crew:
Pilot F/Lt. E.A. Tilbury 127147 RAF Stavoren I 29 Washed up 22 Jun 43
Flight engineer P/O. A.B. Smart DFM 51914 RAF Runnymede Memorial
Navigator P/O. H.E. Howsam 146295 RAF Workum D 1 9 Washed up 23 Jun 43
Bomb aimer P/O. A.G. Fletcher J/17802 RCAF Workum D 1 8 Washed up 21 Jun 43
Wo ag F/Sgt. R.E. Moore DFM 52074 RAF Runnymede Memorial
Air gunner F/O. G.R. Sugar 127055 RAF Hindeloopen D 1 B Body recovered from Ijsselmeer on 22 Jun 43
Air gunner P/O. C.F.J. Sprack DFM 51543 RAF Runnymede Memorial

The remains of this aircraft were discovered in 1996 and have been recovered from the Ijsselmeer. In early September 2023, the Dutch authorities confirmed that they have found skeletal remains within the wreckage, presumed to be those of the three airmen with no known grave.

Circa 40% of the airframe and some human remains (of three crew members) recovered September and October 2023. The three crew that were not recovered (until now) are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial

Crew full details:-
Pilot : Flight Lieutenant Eric Arthur Tilbury RAFVR 127147 [Killed] (NCO:754121 Commission Gazetted : Tuesday 25 August, 1942)
Flight Engineer : Pilot Officer Arthur Bertram Smart DFM RAFVR 51914 [Killed] (NCO:650173 Commission Gazetted : Tuesday 15 June, 1943)
Navigator : Pilot Officer Harold Elvin Howsam RAFVR 146295 [Killed] (NCO:1153358 Commission Gazetted : Tuesday 13 July, 1943)
Bomb Aimer : Pilot Officer Arthur Gordon Fletcher RCAF J/17802 [Killed]
Wireless Operator : Pilot Officer Raymond Edward Moore DFM RAF 52074 [Killed] (NCO:552503 Commission Gazetted : Tuesday 06 July, 1943)
Mid-Upper Gunner : Pilot Officer Charles Frederick John Sprack DFM RAF 51543 [Killed] (NCO:646985 Commission Gazetted : Friday 30 April, 1943)
Rear Gunner : Flying Officer Gordon Robert Sugar RAF 127055 [Killed] (NCO:922310 Commission Gazetted : Tuesday 25 August, 1942)

1. Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1943 Part One
2. https://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/rs.php?aircraft=&sglo=T2451&date=&location=&pn=&unit=&name=&cemetry=&airforce=&target=&area=&airfield=
3. 83 Squadron RAF ORB for June 1943: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/687/12: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8454714
4. https://www.ad.nl/friesland/sudwest-fryslan-laat-in-1943-neergestorte-lancaster-uit-ijsselmeer-halen~a2ccea3d/
5. http://www.626-squadron.co.uk/willem26.htm
6. https://geborgenverleden.nl/en/salvaged-history/
7. https://www.forces.net/heritage/wwii/chance-closure-after-lancaster-and-crew-recovered-after-80-years
8. https://www.flyingmag.com/downed-wwii-lancaster-bomber-raised-from-sea-floor/
9. https://www.gbnews.com/news/lancaster-bomber-raf-crew-recovered-from-sea-crash
10. https://www.h2g2.com/entry/A88037184
11. https://www.arg1940-1945.nl/lancaster%203%20ol-o%20pagina%201gb.htm
12. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/123436
13. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=ED603
14. https://www.zzairwar.nl/dossiers/27.html
15. Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database

The remains of Avro Lancaster ED603 and several of its crewmembers have been recovered from the sea floor, eight decades after the British heavy bomber was shot down during World War II while returning to the U.K.https://t.co/XRao6N1T2p

— FLYING Magazine (@FlyingMagazine) November 13, 2023

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Dec-2008 11:45	ASN archive	Added
27-Feb-2011 13:15	harro	Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Phase, Source, Narrative]
30-Jan-2015 11:29	gerard57	Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
12-Jun-2018 20:33	TigerTimon	Updated [Time, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Source, Narrative]
03-Nov-2018 20:39	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Operator]
12-Jan-2019 10:54	TigerTimon	Updated [Narrative]
23-Jun-2022 01:45	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]
02-Sep-2022 08:55	harro	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
16-Aug-2023 15:02	Anon.	Updated [[Location, Source, Narrative]]
11-Nov-2023 07:56	gerard57	Updated [Other fatalities, Source, Narrative]
11-Nov-2023 08:33	Anon.	Updated [Source, Narrative]
13-Nov-2023 15:58	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category]
11-Jan-2024 09:57	Anon.	Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative]