Date: 18/19th September 1940
Unit: No. 149 Squadron
Type: Wellington IC
Serial: R3160
Code: OJ-E
Base: Mildenhall, Suffolk
Location: English Channel
Pilot : P/O. John Sydney Pay 42877 R.A.F. Age 19. Killed
Fl/Eng: P/O. Donald Ralph Tuppen 81339 R.A.F.V.R. Age 22. Killed
Air/Bmr: P/O. David Spencer Cox 80848 R.A.F.V.R. Age 19. Killed
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. William Ray Pope 966654 R.A.F.V.R. Age ? Killed
Air/Gnr: Sgt. Henry Herbert Harrison 538889 R.A.F. Age 23. Killed
Air/Gnr: P/O. George Reginald Michael Ford 79236 R.A.F.V.R. Age 30. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
Took off from Mildenhall, Suffolk at 19.25 hrs. To join 174 aircraft for the majority to bomb the Channel ports - the remainder to attack German railway targets.
No details are available on this loss except that it is thought to have come down in the English Channel. No night fighter claims have been made for this so it is thought that it was probably hit by flak.
A costly night for Bomber Command with the loss of 9 aircraft and all the crews being killed/missing:
58 Squadron Whitley V P5008 GE-M Shot down by German night fighter - Sgt Albert A. E. Crossland and 4 other crew members killed.
77 Squadron Whitley V N1425 KN-E Shot down by German night fighter - P/O. Peter E. Eldridge and 4 other crew members killed.
77 Squadron Whitley V P4992 KN-T Crashed into the sea off Belgian coast - P/O. Ronald P.Brayne and 4 other crew members killed.
83 Squadron Hampden I P1183 OL-E Shot down by Flak - P/O. James A. Pitcairn Hill D.S.O. D.F.C. and 3 other crew members killed.
99 Squadron Wellington IC P9242 LN-B Shot down by Flak - P/O. Michael C. A. Linden and 5 other crew members killed.
105 Squadron Blenheim IV L9339 GB-? Lost without trace - P/O. Sgt. Cyril Bowles and 2 other crew members killed.
106 Squadron Hampden I P1259 ZN-? Shot down by Flak - F/O. Eric T. Watkin and 3 other crew members killed.
107 Squadron Blenheim IV T1852 OM-? Lost without trace - F/O. Cyril Preston and 2 other crew members killed.
149 Squadron Wellington IC R3160 OJ-E Lost over channel - P/O. John S. Pay and 2 other crew members killed.
149 Squadron Wellington (A.R.Society archives)
Runnymede Memorial (King - A.R.Society archives)
Houlgate (Beuzeval) Communal Cemetery. (A.R.Society archives)
Burial details:
P/O. John Sydney Pay. Runnymede Memorial Panel 9
Son of the Revd. Sydney S. Pay, and of Edith R. Pay, of Cambridge.
P/O. Donald Ralph Tuppen. Runnymede Memorial Panel 10
Son of Edward Browne Tuppen and Helena Augusta Tuppen, of Rugby, Warwickshire.
P/O. David Spencer Cox. Runnymede Memorial Panel 7
Son of Spencer Cox, and of Grace Leslie Cox, of Earl's Court, London.
Sgt. William Ray Pope. Houlgate (Beuzeval) Communal Cemetery. Spec Mem. Plot 10. Grave 13
No further details as yet.
Sgt. Henry Herbert Harrison. Runnymede Memorial Panel 15
Son of Henry and Annie Harrison, of Belfast.
P/O. George Reginald Michael Ford. Runnymede Memorial Panel 8
Son of Charles Bell Eustace and Mary Emily Ford.
For Bill Dolan (Nephew of Sgt. Harrison) and relatives of the other crew members. With thanks to: Bill Chorley - "Bomber Command Losses Vol. 1", Martin Middlebrook "Bomber Command War Diaries".
