Date:	Sunday 3 October 1943
Time:
Type:	Handley Page Halifax Mk V
Owner/operator:	434 (Bluenose) Sqn RCAF
Registration:	LK638
MSN:	IP-V
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 7
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Grossen-Heidorn 3 km NW of Wunstorf -   Germany
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Tholthorpe
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Toof off at 18h51 for a bombing mission to Kassel Germany. It was hit by flak and set afire, the pilot ordered the crew to abandon the aircraft, 4 of which did successfully before the Halifax entered a spin and exploded in mid air near Hanover. The surviving crew members reported the aircraft probably entered the spin when the pilot let go of the controls to abandon the doomed aircraft.

Crew:-
Pilot : Flying Officer Harold Wallace German AFM RCAF J/10730 [Killed]
Flight Engineer : Sergeant William Oliver Todd RCAF R/62716 [PoW]
Navigator : Sergeant Frederick Gaffney Babington RCAF R/147399 [PoW]
Bomb Aimer : Flight Lieutenant George Theodore Berg RCAF J/16782 [Killed]
Wireless Operator : Sergeant Conrad Webster Dorey RAF 1175848 [PoW]
Mid-Upper Gunner : Sergeant Robert William Eaton RAF 624372 [PoW]
Rear Gunner : Flight Sergeant Edward Vicary Davidson RCAF R/14035 [Killed]

The three casualties lie at the Hanover War Cemetery, Germany (52.377026 / 9.654365)

On the Youtube video https://youtu.be/sZ0KcV_vaLo the headstones of F/L Berg and F/S Davidson are seen at 0:40

The National Archives UK
Archives Canada
RCAF Historical microfilms
CASPIR
Veterans Affairs Canada
RCAF Losses 1943
https://aircrewremembered.com/AlliedLossesIncidents/?q=dk261&qand=&exc1=&exc2=&search_only=&search_type=exactl
https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=LK638
Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database http://robdavistelford.co.uk/webspace/raf_bc

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
11-Oct-2025 06:06	tachel	Added
11-Oct-2025 13:40	tachel	Updated [Total fatalities, Narrative, ]
16-Nov-2025 07:30	Rob Davis	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]
16-Nov-2025 07:30	Rob Davis	Updated [Narrative, ]