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| Date: | Thursday 1 June 1944 |
| Time: | 00:30 LT |
| Type: |  Short Stirling Mk III |
| Owner/operator: | 149 (East India) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | LJ501 |
| MSN: | OJ-H |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 7 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | North Sea off Zeebrugge, West Flanders -
 Belgium
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Methwold |
Took off from RAF Methwold at 23:22 hrs for a Gardening (mine-laying) operation in the Knokke-Heist area; failed to return.
Of those who died Sgt Dickenson was washed ashore on 11 June and buried in Vlissingen Northern Cemetery while two rest in Belguim; Sgt Searles at Adegem Canadian War Cemetery and Sgt McWade RCAF at Cement House Cemetery, Langemarck. The others are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
Crew:-
Pilot : Flight Sergeant Verdon Harold Cutts RAF 175928 [PoW]
Flight Engineer : Sergeant Frank Cartwright RAFVR 2220594 [Killed]
Navigator : Sergeant Sydney Dickinson RAFVR 987302 [Killed]
Bomb Aimer : Sergeant Ernest Robert Searles RAFVR 1324623 [Killed]
Wireless Operator : Sergeant Frederick Cecil Pallett RAFVR 1651048 [Killed]
Mid-Upper Gunner : Pilot Officer John Robert McWade RCAF J/89887 [Killed]
Rear Gunner : Flight Sergeant John Hodgkins RAFVR 1079224 [Killed]
Sources:
https://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/rs.php?aircraft=&sglo=T3753&date=&location=&pn=&unit=&name=&cemetry=&airforce=&target=&area=&airfield=
Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second world War 1944 Page 250.
Google Maps
Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Dec-2008 11:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 15-Jun-2016 12:07 | Red Dragon | Updated [Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 18-Oct-2018 13:35 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator, ] |
| 03-Oct-2020 18:05 | TigerTimon | Updated [Time, Location, Country, Phase, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 03-Oct-2020 18:06 | TigerTimon | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 06-Nov-2022 12:33 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location, ] |
| 22-May-2024 06:51 | Rob Davis | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
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