Date:	Monday 5 February 1945
Time:	night
Type:	Avro Lancaster B Mk III
Owner/operator:	1669 HCU RAF
Registration:	PB570
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Missing/Failed to Return while over Irish Sea -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Langar, Nottinghamshire
Destination airport:	RAF Langar, Nottinghamshire

Narrative:
Lancaster B Mk. III PB570, 1669 HCU (Heavy Conversion Unit) RAF: Missing on night NAVEX (navigation exercise) in bad weather, 5 February 1945.

Took off from RAF Langar, Nottinghamshire to carry out a night cross-country navigation flight. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it did not return to base. The route was - Base-Basingstoke-Barnstaple-Bude-St Marys-Bardsey-Aberystwyth-Northampton-Base. All seven crew on board posted as missing, believed killed in active service.

Crew:
AUS427274 Flt/Sgt (Pilot) Ian Albert WEST RAAF - killed
1605772 Sgt (Flt. Engineer.) Gerald Frederick Arthur CLAPTON RAFVR - killed
1676657 Sgt (Navigator) Roy HOLMES RAFVR - killed
1804021 Sgt (Air Bomber) Henry William Nevil DRAWBRIDGE RAFVR - killed
1891873 Sgt (W/Op/Air Gunner) Leslie Marcus TANNEN RAFVR - killed
3025347 Sgt (Air Gunner [Mid-Upper Gunner]) Peter Hadrian VOLLER RAFVR - killed
1899507 Sgt (Air Gunner [Rear Gunner]) Eric Durham KEELING RAFVR - killed.

All seven crew are Commemorated Runnymede Memorial, United Kingdom

1. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
2. Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War 1945 Page 49.
3. Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
4. 1669 HCU RAF Operational Record Book (Record of events for the period 1 to 28 February 1945): National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/
5. Aircraft Movement Card (Air Ministry Form AM.78): https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-78s/Lancaster/PB561-PB641/mobile/index.html
6. Aircraft Accident Card (Air Ministry Form AM,1180): https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-1180/Lancaster/1945/February/prt1/1.html
7. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1531270/ian-albert-west/
8. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1084442/gerald-frederick-arthur-clapton/
9. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1800401/roy-holmes/
10. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/232466/henry-william-nevil-drawbridge/
11. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1808434/leslie-marcus-tannen/
12. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1809361/peter-hadrian-voller/
13. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1802501/eric-durham-keeling/
14. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=PB570
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conversion_units_of_the_Royal_Air_Force
16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Langar
17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Sea

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-Aug-2013 01:29	JINX	Added
07-Dec-2014 07:38	Jixon	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Country, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ]
11-Nov-2023 12:32	Nepa	Updated [Time, Operator, Nature, Narrative, Operator, ]
17-Jan-2025 23:23	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ]