Date:	Saturday 1 August 1942
Time:	night
Type:	Handley Page Hampden Mk I
Owner/operator:	14 OTU RAF
Registration:	P1185
MSN:	GL-B
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Leffinge, Middelkerke, West Flanders -   Belgium
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Cottesmore, Oakham, Rutland
Destination airport:	RAF Cottesmore, Rutland

Narrative:
Handley Page Hampden Mk.I P1185 (GL-B) of 14 OTU RAF. Lost on combat operations on 1/8/1942. Missing on raid to Düsseldorf in Germany. Took off from RAF Cottesmore, Rutland at 00:03 hrs. The aircraft crashed near the coastal municipality of Leffinge, Middelkerke, West Flanders, Belgium (at approximate co ordinates 51°11′N 2°53′E).
Probably, it was shot down by night fighter pilot Hauptmann Dr. Horst Patuschka of the 7./NJG 2, who was flying a Ju 88 C-6 from Gilze-Rijen airfield in the Netherlands.

Three crew members were killed: two Canadians - the observer, Pilot Officer David G. McLean and the radio operator/air gunner, Flight Sgt George T. Bloomer - as well as a nineteen-year-old Australian, Sgt Sydney Shailer. The third Canadian on board, the pilot Sgt N.E. McGowan, was taken prisoner of war:

J/9506: Pilot Officer David Gerald McLean RCAF (pilot) - KIA body recovered for burial
Flight Sgt N.E. McGowan RCAF (observer/navigator) - survived, captured, taken as POW
R/8157: Flight Sgt George Taylor Bloomer RCAF (Wireless Op/Air Gunner) - KIA body recovered for burial
411406: Sgt Sydney Alan Shailer RAAF (Air Gunner, aged 19) - KIA body recovered for burial

The three crew fatalities were buried at Adegen Canadian War Cemetery, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium

1. Air-Britain: Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-R9999
2. De Decker Cynrik & Roba Jean-Louis, RAF bombers over Belgium, 1942, De Krijger, Erpe, 1996
3. https://www.luchtvaartgeschiedenis.be/content/hampden-bij-leffinge
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2083308/mclean,-david-gerald/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2082794/bloomer,-george-taylor/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2083563/shailer,-sidney-alan/
7. https://www.backtonormandy.org/component/mtree/air-force-operations/airplanes-allies-and-axis-lost/hampden/16970-P11851942-08-01.html
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leffinge
9. Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years part three
10. Google Maps

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
09-Jul-2013 05:23	JINX	Added
11-Aug-2018 16:46	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
18-Oct-2018 14:22	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator]
13-May-2020 11:39	TigerTimon	Updated [Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative]
26-Jun-2022 10:03	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]