Date:	Monday 1 September 1941
Time:	00:18
Type:	Handley Page Hampden Mk I
Owner/operator:	83 Sqn RAF
Registration:	AD912
MSN:	OL-Y
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 4
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	SE corner of the Dennendijkse Bossen woods, Asten, Noord-Brabant -   Netherlands
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:	RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire

Narrative:
Handley Page Hampden Mk.I AD912 (OL-Y) of 83 Squadron, RAF. Lost on combat operations on night of 31/8/1941 to 1/9/1941. Mission: Koln. Took off from RAF Scampton at 20:15 hours on 31/8/1941. The aircraft was coned by a searchlight for 4 minutes & intercepted and shot down by night fighter pilot Feldwebel Richard Launer of the 2./NJG 1, who was flying a Bf 110 from Venlo airfield. It crashed 00:18 hours on 1/9/1941 in the south east corner of the forest of Dennendijkse Bossen, North Brabant, south of the Astense Aa near Liessel, Netherlands (at approximate co ordinates 51°24 'N, 5°48' E). Three of the crew survived, were captured, and became POWs. The pilot was killed and is buried in Jonkerbos War Cemetery.

Crew:-
Pilot : Squadron Leader Eric Peter (Deado) Willcox DFC RAF 40037 [Killed] body recovered, initially buried at Venlo, reburied at Jonkerbos postwar
Observer : Pilot Officer Douglas Bruce Organ RAF 66575 (NCO:1169129 : Commission Gazetted Friday 13 June, 1941) [PoW]
Wireless Operator : Sergeant Harry Cecil Gabbitas RAF 1165273 [PoW]
Rear Gunner : Flight Sergeant Jack Lawrence RAF 533877 [PoW]

1. W.R. Chorley: Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War 1941 Page 134.
2. Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years part two
3. https://studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/31-08-01-09-1941-sglo-t1238-handley-page-hampden-mk-i-ad912-ol-y/
4. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennendijkse_Bossen
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2647116/willcox,-eric-peter/
6. https://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/rs.php?aircraft=&sglo=T1238&date=&location=&pn=&unit=&name=&cemetry=&airforce=&target=&area=&airfield=
7. Google Maps
8. Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Dec-2008 11:45	ASN archive	Added
07-May-2016 17:52	Red Dragon	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]
01-Aug-2018 22:46	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]
11-Nov-2018 12:11	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator, ]
23-Mar-2020 20:53	TigerTimon	Updated [Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative, ]
22-Oct-2024 20:01	Rob Davis	Updated [Other fatalities, Source, Narrative, ]