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| Date: | Sunday 27 August 1944 |
| Time: | 00:25 approx |
| Type: |  Avro Lancaster Mk III |
| Owner/operator: | 156 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | PB302 |
| MSN: | GT-B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 7 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | North Sea, 110 miles NW of Norderney, Frisian Islands -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Upwood, Cambridgeshire (takeoff at 20:21 hrs) |
Ditched returning from mission to Kiel.
Badly shot about by a 'Ju 88' over Kiel, only instants after dropping its bombs. Both starboard engines were disabled, the port elevator shot clean off, the fuselage holed, the hydraulic system shot away and the bomb bay frozen open, and the port main gear was hanging out.
When the port inner engine, however, caught fire, the Lancaster was ditched in the North Sea, about 230 km west of Sylt at around 00:25 hrs. Within four minutes, the bomber sank; the crew of seven were all able to enter their dinghy and were fortunate to be brought home by an ASR launch five days later.
Crew:-
Pilot : Flight Lieutenant Robert "Bob" Mather Etchells DSO DFC RAF 161599 (NCO:1451806 : Commission Gazetted Tuesday 28 December, 1943)
Flight Engineer : Flight Sergeant Jock D Gray RAF
Navigator : Pilot Officer Johnny E Goldsmith RCAF
Bomb Aimer : Pilot Officer A J C Croome RAAF
Wireless Operator : Warrant Officer E W 'Bill' Hay RAF
Mid-Upper Gunner : Flight Sergeant John F Stearn RAF
Rear Gunner : Pilot Officer Sidney Freeden DFC RAF 177404 (NCO:1508768 : Commission Gazetted Tuesday 25 July, 1944)
Sources:
Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1944 part four
http://www.aircrewremembered.com/etchells-robert-mather.html
Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 26-Aug-2013 12:20 | JINX | Added |
| 03-Nov-2018 09:48 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator, ] |
| 16-Jun-2021 19:03 | TigerTimon | Updated [Time, Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 28-May-2024 18:04 | Rob Davis | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
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