Date:	Monday 1 January 1945
Time:	20:00
Type:	Avro Lancaster Mk I
Owner/operator:	218 (Gold Coast) Sqn RAF
Registration:	PB768
MSN:	XH-B
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 7
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Namur -   Belgium
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Chedburgh
Destination airport:	RAF Chedburgh

Narrative:
Shot down by US Army AA, on return from mission to Vohwinkel.
Took off from RAF Chedburgh at 1606 hrs to bomb the railway yards at Vohwinkel. Hit by flak over the target at 21,000 ft, sustaining damage to the fuel supply feeding the port inner engine. This engine was stopped. Over Namur homebound, the Lancaster was hit twice, in quick succession, by the American AA fire and the entire port side caught fire. As the order to bale out was given, the Lancaster spun and fell at Emines in the Belguim Province of Numar, 11 km SE of Gembloux. Those who died were buried in the Fosse US Temporary Military Cemetery, since when their remains have been taken to Leopoldsburg War Cemetery.

Crew:-
Pilot : Flying Officer Robert Garfield Grivell RAAF Aus/417578 [Killed]
Flight Engineer : Sergeant Leslie Peckett RAFVR 1615706 [Killed]
Navigator : Flight Sergeant Hugh Clements RCAF R/186020 [Killed]
Bomb Aimer : Flying Officer George Ingram RCAF [Injured]
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner : Sergeant Kenneth Bennett RAFVR 2214378 [Killed]
Mid-Upper Gunner : Sergeant Edward Percival Buttrum-Gardiner RAFVR 1851287 [Killed]
Rear Gunner : Sergeant Royston Elvin Keel RAFVR 1809996 [Killed]

The six casualties lie at the Leopoldsburg War Cemetery, Belgium (51.115842 / 5.252740)

Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War 1945 Page 26.
http://aircrewremembered.com/grivell-robert.html
https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=PB768
Personnel file of the RCAF casualty including loss report (Ancestry.ca - Archives Canada)
218 Sqn wartime records from The National Archives UK
https://aircrewremembered.com/AlliedLossesIncidents/?q=pb768&qand=&exc1=&exc2=&search_only=&search_type=exact
https://218squadron.wordpress.com/
Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10305067
Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database http://robdavistelford.co.uk/webspace/raf_bc

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Aug-2013 02:05	JINX	Added
17-May-2016 16:16	Red Dragon	Updated [Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]
15-Jan-2018 18:49	XindelX	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, ]
21-Mar-2020 16:54	Anon.	Updated [Source, ]
20-Oct-2023 17:40	tachel	Updated
01-Sep-2025 06:55	Rob Davis	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]