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| Date: | Wednesday 11 December 1940 |
| Time: | night |
| Type: | Handley Page Hampden Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 50 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | X3117 |
| MSN: | VN-R |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Trier (Treves), Eifel District (Rhl.-Pfalz) -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Lindholme, North Yorkshire |
10/11 December 1940
Six aircraft set out to bomb an industrial port at Mannheim. X3117 took off from RAF Lindholme at 22.40 hours on 10/11/1940. Due to bad weather and severe icing, no aircraft bombed the target and X3117 failed to return. Despite a daylight search of the North Sea by two Hampdens and an Anson, no trace of the aircraft or crew was found.
Crew:-
Pilot : Flying Officer Eric Beck 'Squibs' Liddell RAF 40234 [Killed]
2nd Pilot : Pilot Officer Ronald George Ash RAF 43278 [Killed]
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner : Sergeant Eric McConnell RAFVR 1755215 [Killed]
Rear Gunner : Sergeant Alfred Stanley Atkinson RAF 652440 [Killed]
However, later, the crew remains were recovered and they now rest at RHEINBERG WAR CEMETERY, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany in a ‘collective’grave. The aircraft is believed to have been shot down by Flak/AAA and crashed near Trier (Treves), in the Eifel District, North Western Germany at approximate Coordinates: 49°45′N 6°38′E
Sources:
1. http://www.no-50-and-no-61-squadrons-association.co.uk/app/download/5802508903/50+SQUADRON+ORB+1939+1943+Revision+1.pdf
2. https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/air-force-operations/airplanes-allies-and-axis-lost/hampden/25726-X31171940-12-11.html
3. http://aircrewremembered.com/liddell-eric-beck-squibs.html
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2047901/liddell,-eric-beck-squibs/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2042283/atkinson,-alfred-stanley/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2042275/ash,-ronald-george/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2047968/mcconnell,-eric/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Jul-2018 19:11 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 12-Nov-2018 18:56 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator, ] |
| 29-Oct-2019 11:32 | Uli Elch | Updated [Operator, Location, Destination airport, ] |
| 02-Nov-2019 18:55 | Anon. | Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator, ] |
| 13-Sep-2025 06:34 | Rob Davis | Updated [Narrative, ] |
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