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| Date: | Thursday 16 December 1943 |
| Time: | 18:23 LT |
| Type: |  Avro Lancaster Mk III |
| Owner/operator: | 49 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | JB545 |
| MSN: | EA-O |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Lindedijk between Sonnega and Oldetrijne, Friesland -
 Netherlands
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Fiskerton, Lincolnshire |
Takeoff at 16:27 for an operation to Berlin, Germany.
Shot down by night fighter pilot Oberleutnant Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer of the 12./NJG 1, flying Bf 110 G-4 G9+DZ from Leeuwarden airfield.
Crrew:-
Pilot : Pilot Officer Gordon Lennox Ratcliffe RAFVR 158689 (NCO:1425107 : Commission Gazetted Tuesday 16 November, 1943) [Killed]
Flight Engineer : Sergeant Albert Edgar Arthur Marsland RAFVR 1214303 [Killed]
Navigator : Sergeant Edward Holloway RAFVR 1580024 [Killed]
Bomb Aimer : Sergeant Wilfred Robert Day RAFVR 1452920 [Killed]
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner : Sergeant William Thomas Rees RAFVR 1313451 [Killed]
Mid-Upper Gunner : Flight Sergeant Ricardo Losa RCAF R/154427 [Killed]
Rear Gunner : Flight Sergeant Bede James Veitch King RAAF Aus/423760 [Killed]
Sources:
https://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/rs.php?aircraft=&sglo=T3219&date=&location=&pn=&unit=&name=&cemetry=&airforce=&target=&area=&airfield=
Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1943 part three
https://www.tracesofwar.nl/sights/68157/Monument-Crash-Lancaster-J-B-545.htm
Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Dec-2008 11:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 20-Oct-2017 09:10 | gerard57 | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Phase, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 12-Dec-2018 08:57 | TigerTimon | Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 12-Dec-2018 09:00 | TigerTimon | Updated [Location, ] |
| 12-Dec-2018 20:09 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Operator, ] |
| 16-May-2024 08:26 | Rob Davis | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
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