ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 225883
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| Date: | Saturday 2 March 1940 |
| Time: | 00:45 |
| Type: |  Vickers Wellington Mk 1c |
| Owner/operator: | 149 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | N2984 |
| MSN: | OJ-S |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Burnt Fen, 9 miles NW of RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk |
Wellington N2984 (OJ-S): Took off from RAF Mildenhall at 00:34 hours on the night of 1st/2nd March 1940 a "Nickel" (leaflet dropping) mission to Bremen. Some eleven minutes after take off from RAF Mildenhall, while climbing, the starboard engine failed. The crew elected to return to base when the pilot lost control of the aircraft and crashed into a field at 00:45 hours at Burnt Fen, 9 miles North West of Mildenhall, Suffolk. All six crew were killed.
Crew
Pilot: 37346 F/O Leo Reginald Field - Brighton (Lewes Road) Borough Cemetery Section R62 Grave 71.
2nd Pilot: 580312 Sgt Maurice Wiffen - Braintree and Bocking (Braintree) Cemetery Consecrated Section Grave 7936.
Obs.: 580799 Sgt James Chalmers Murdoch - Troon Cemetery Ayrshire Section L2 Grave 131.
WOp/AG: 546726 LAC Ernest Harry Prior - Waterbeach Cemetery Grave 190A.
WOp/AG: 621199 AC2 Laurence Bruce Hughson - Lerwick New Cemetery Terrace 9 Grave 38.
Air Gunner: 626998 AC2 Thomas Edgeley Smith Dunbar Cemetery Section B Grave 230.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-N9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/97: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14141919
3. http://www.harringtonmuseum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Aircraft-lost-on-Allied-Forces-Special-Duty-Operations.pdf
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2733614/wiffen,-maurice/
5. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-vickers-408-wellington-ia-burnt-fen-6-killed
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2455523/murdoch,-james-chalmers/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2651916/prior,-ernest-harry/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2812521/smith,-thomas-edgeley/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/4033705/hughson,-laurence-bruce/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2722906/field,-leo-reginald/
11. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/115374888/maurice-wiffen
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnt_Fen
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 06-Jun-2019 16:02 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 06-Jun-2019 16:13 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Narrative] |
| 08-Jun-2019 10:33 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator] |
| 19-May-2022 18:28 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative] |
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