Date:	Friday 16 March 1945
Time:	18:05 LT
Type:	Avro Lancaster B Mk III
Owner/operator:	44 (Rhodesia) Squadron, RAF
Registration:	ND869
MSN:	KM-M
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North Sea, 300 yards off Skegness Pier, Skegness, Lincolnshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Spilsby, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Avro Lancaster B Mk III ND869/KM-M, 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron: Written off (destroyed) when lost on 'ops' on the evening of 16 March 1945. Target: Wurzberg, Germany. Took off at 17:43 on 16 Mar 1945 from Spilsby but crashed eighteen minutes later into the sea off Skegness. All seven crew on board were Killed

Crew of Lancaster ND869
Flight Sergeant James ALLAN (1568345)
Sergeant Arthur William BEAUCHAMP (1826580)
Sergeant Douglas Frederick BROWN (1874886)
Flight Sergeant Richard Bruce JUDGE (1803447)
Sergeant Robert Frederick George MITCHELL (1897195) Air Gunner
Flight Lieutenant Wilfred Herbert SHEPHARD (50528) Pilot
Sergeant Rupert Desmond SNAPE (2221603)

The bodies of Flt/Lt Shephard and Sgt Mitchell were recovered - the latter being found some 300 yards off the town's pier and taken to Cambridge City Cemetery. The other five crew members were never found, and are Commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial, United Kingdom

1. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft NA100-NZ999.
2. Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database.
3. The Lancaster File (James J Halley, Air Britain 1985).
4. Bomber Command Losses 1945 V6 by W R Chorley.
5. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF Operational Record Book (Record of Events for the period 1 to 31 March 1945): National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/452/6 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8412222
6. Aircraft Movement Card (Air Ministry Form AM.78): https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-78s/Lancaster/ND863-ND922/mobile/index.html
7. Aircraft Accident Record Card (Air Ministry Form AM.1180): https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-1180/Lancaster/1945/March/prt1/2.html
8. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/121126
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._44_Squadron_RAF#The_World_Wars_(1917%E2%80%931945)
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Spilsby#Later_in_the_war
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skegness_Pier

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
13-Feb-2025 14:47	Dr. John Smith	Added