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| Date: | Thursday 27 June 1940 |
| Time: | night |
| Type: | Handley Page Hampden Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 50 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | L4078 |
| MSN: | VN-E |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | ½ km W of Duttenstedt, Rethen, 10 km SSE of Hannover -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire |
| RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire |
Handley Page Hampden Mk.I L4078 "VN-E" of 50 Squadron, RAF Waddington. Missing on night of 26-27/6/40 as one of six aircraft on a mission to attack the aerodrome at Langen Hagen. Took off at 22:17 on 26/6/40 and brought down by flak, crashing in the early morning near Rethen, about 10 km SSE of Hannover. The aircraft is believed to have crashed ½ km W of Duttenstedt, Germany. All are buried side-by-side in Hannover War Cemetery, locality of NiedersachsenI.
Crew:
P/O (40628) Anthoney Seton Luxmoore (pilot) RAF- killed.
Sgt (580426) Walter Cecil Harding (obs) RAF - killed.
Sgt (624403) Gerald Nichols (Wop/AG) RAF - killed.
Sgt (550966) Arthur Harry Smith (Wop/AG) RAF - killed.
One of the successful aircraft noted in their report that “numerous accurate whitish-blue searchlight beams picked up and held the aircraft” around Hannover with the “flak fire falling 40-60 Yards astern”; this may be the cause of the two casualties on this night as these searchlights were part of a German ‘Predictive Flak’ system which proved devastatingly accurate in later months and years.
Another quotes that ‘intense heavy and accurate A.A. fire was encountered bursting all around the aircraft, usually about 60 yards away’. The reporting crews may simply have been lucky as the predictive flak batteries adjusted their ranging.
Strangely, the ORB records the cause of death of each crew member as due to a “Flying Accident”. Only one of the remaining five aircraft reported hitting the target. The five others returned safely.
Strangely date of dead according to CWGC of Antohony Seton LUXMOORE is 26-06-1940 while the other crewmembers date of dead is 27-06-1940.
Sources:
1. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?3245-Hampden-L4078-26-June-1940-50-Sqn
2. https://www.backtonormandy.org/component/mtree/air-force-operations/airplanes-allies-and-axis-lost/hampden/25699-L40781940-06-27.html
3. http://www.no-50-and-no-61-squadrons-association.co.uk/app/download/5802508903/50+SQUADRON+ORB+1939+1943+Revision+1.pdf.
4. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ww2images/6902102161
5.CWGC
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-Mar-2008 14:31 | JINX | Added |
| 10-Jul-2015 19:41 | Gagarin | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 07-Mar-2018 00:17 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Location, Country, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 30-Jul-2025 16:09 | MMR | Updated [Cn, Source, Narrative, ] |
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