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| Date: | Saturday 6 June 1942 |
| Time: | |
| Type: | Avro Manchester Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 50 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | R5833 |
| MSN: | VN- |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 7 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Ile de Quiberon, 30 km SSE Lorient, -
 France
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire |
Shot down into sea by German naval Flak during minelaying. According to Plt Off Gill’s POW testimony the aircraft crashed into the sea off Ile de Quiberone, Lorient, FRANCE on the 6th June. He remembers that the aircraft hit the sea but nothing further until he came to in the water, surrounded by blazing petrol, with no-one else to be seen. He states the Germans told him he was the only survivor,however there was nothing to substantiate this claim and no graves are known to exist.
Crew:-
Pilot : Pilot Officer Desmond William Garland RAFVR 115223 [Killed] (NCO:656398 Commission Gazetted : Tuesday 24 March, 1942)
2nd Pilot : Sergeant John Joseph Nixon RAAF Aus/405135 [Killed]
Observer : Sergeant Albert Moth RAFVR 1268307 [Killed]
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner : Pilot Officer Reginald Thomas Gill RAF 107931 [PoW] (NCO:1325707 Commission Gazetted : Friday 19 December, 1941)
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner : Sergeant William Gray RAFVR 955478 [Killed]
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner : Sergeant Robert William Ogilvie RAAF Aus/402670 [Killed]
Rear Gunner : Sergeant Walter Roy West RAFVR 1337262 [Killed]
P/O Gill promoted to F/O, Gazette of 18th December 1942, whilst in captivity.
Sources:
Air Britain: RAF Aircraft P1000 - R9999, published 1996
CWGC
RAF Prisoners of War
Bomber Command Losses 1942
50 Squadron Royal Air Force In World War Two
RAAF PERSONNEL SERVING ON ATTACHMENT IN ROYAL AIR FORCE SQUADRONS AND SUPPORT UNITS IN WORLD WAR 2 AND MISSING WITH NO KNOWN GRAVE.
Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Jan-2012 05:41 | Uli Elch | Added |
| 10-Jan-2018 20:44 | Red Dragon | Updated [Cn, Operator, Other fatalities, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 12-Nov-2018 20:58 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Operator, ] |
| 20-Aug-2022 21:57 | Nepa | Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator, ] |
| 21-May-2023 16:07 | Rob Davis | Updated |
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