Date:	Wednesday 7 March 1945
Time:	22:15 LT
Type:	Avro Lancaster Mk III
Owner/operator:	61 Squadron RAF
Registration:	ME474
MSN:	QR-V
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	German Bight, Heligoland, North Sea -   Germany
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Avro Lancaster B Mk. III ME474/QR-V of 61 Squadron, RAF: Lost/Failed to return on combat operations. Takeoff at 17:50 hrs 6/7 March for a bombing operation against Harburg (Hamburg) in Germany. Homeward-bound, after successfully completing the mission, crashed into the German Bight, off Heligoland, North Sea.

Possibly shot down by enemy night fighters. However several Lancaster were lost in thius fashion on the night of 6/7 March. Therefore the loss of Lancaster ME474 was onone of the following

"After the bombing of Harburg had commenced at 21:56hrs, night fighters began to arrive over the target area and successfully infiltrated the rear of the bomber stream. Between 22.00 and 22.31hrs, according to Luftgau Abschliessende Meldungen, 11 Lancasters and a B-17 were shot down by night fighters and flak, along the homeward route between Hamburg and the Helgoland Bight, off Bremerhaven. One, possibly two, Lancasters were shot down into the sea and lost without trace.'

Based on the times given the following German night fighter pilots made claims for Lancasters that have not been able to be narrowed down to a specific aircraft:

- Feldwebel Egon Engling (12./NJG-3) shot 3 Lancasters down between 2210 & 2213 (his 10, 11 & 12th kills) from the Harburg/Heide raids
- Leutnant Günther Wolf (9./NJG-5) claimed a Lancaster at 2214 (his 8th kill) from the Harburg/Heide raids
Feldwebel Walter Rohlfing (9./NJG-3) claimed a Lancaster (his 11th kill) from the Harburg/Heide raid but no time given
- Oberleutnant Fritz Brandt (Stab IV/NJG-3) claimed a Lancaster (his 7th kill) from the Harburg/Heide raid but no time given

There was one other unidentified Lancaster shot down from the Harburg/Heide raid by Hauptmann Arnold Brinkmann (9./NJG-3) (his 15th kill) but that was timed at 22:45 (some 15 minutes later)".

All seven crew members on board were posted as mission in action (killed inaction)

Crew:
Pilot: Flying Officer Frederick Stanley Farren RAAF Aus/417951 [Killed]. Commemorated at Nederweert War Cemetery, the Netherlands. Body recovered after being washed up German coast.
Flight Engineer: Sergeant William McMarth RAFVR 1880264 [Killed]. Commmorated at Becklingen War Cemetery, Germany Body recovered after being Washed up at Cuxhaven
Navigator: Flight Sergeant Thomas Laidlaw Benson RAFVR 1565145 [Killed] Commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial, UK
Bomb Aimer: Sergeant James Sinclair RAFVR 1677297 [Killed] Commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial, UK
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner: Flight Sergeant William Stanley Horace Tandy RAF 642289 [Killed] Commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial, UK
Mid-Upper Gunner: Sergeant Arthur Lockett RAFVR 1162477 [Killed] Commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial, UK
Rear Gunner: Sergeant Nelson Peckham RAF 547928 [Killed] Commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial, UK

Heligoland is a small archipelago in the North Sea and has been part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein since 1890

1. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft MA100-MZ999
2. Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
3. The Lancaster File (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985)
4. Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1945
5. SGLO database - https://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/ahome/lossregister/results?sglo=T5354A
6. https://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/lancaster-me474.47133/
7. 61 Squadron RAF Operational Record Book (Record of Events for 1 to 31 March 1945): National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/580/6 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8452687
5. Aircraft Movement Card (Air Ministry Form AM.78): https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-78s/Lancaster
6. Aircraft Accident Record Card (Air Ministry Form AM.1180): https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-1180/Lancaster/1945/March/prt2/2.html
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._61_Squadron_RAF#Second_World_War
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Skellingthorpe#History
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Bight
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heligoland

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Jun-2022 15:29	TigerTimon	Added
08-Oct-2024 07:49	Rob Davis	Updated [Other fatalities, Source, Narrative, ]
26-Jan-2025 21:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Country, Source, Damage, Narrative, Category, ]