640 Squadron's Handley Page Halifax BIII (#LW499) bomber aircraft, with an aircrew of seven, took off from RAF Leconfield for a night-time air operation over the railway yards in Hasselt, Limburg, Belgium. LW499 is thought to have been attacked and shot down by a night-fighter, crashing near Genk, Belgium, taking the lives of six members of the crew; one airman survived the crash but was captured and taken PoW [he was interned in Stalag Luft L7 Bankau near Kreuzburg, Upper Silesia].
The airmen who perished in this attack and crash were-
RCAF Flying Officer John Ivan ATKINS,
RAFVR Flight Sergeant Donald Stirling CAMPBELL,
RAFVR Sergeant Leslie Robert GEE,
RAFVR Sergeant Charles Geoffrey LEE,
RAAF Flight Sergeant George Henry ROSE and
RCAF Pilot Officer Douglas Osborne THOMAS.
Military Service-
Service Number: 1314892
Rank: Flight Sergeant
Trade: Air Bomber
Age: 23
Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Division: 640 RAF Squadron, No. 4 Group, RAF Bomber Command; RAF Leconfield, Yorkshire
[No motto, no badge]
Son of J. E. S. and Margaret Campbell; husband of Elsie B. Campbell of Balham, London, England.
He is commemorated in perpetuity by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
640 Squadron's Handley Page Halifax BIII (#LW499) bomber aircraft, with an aircrew of seven, took off from RAF Leconfield for a night-time air operation over the railway yards in Hasselt, Limburg, Belgium. LW499 is thought to have been attacked and shot down by a night-fighter, crashing near Genk, Belgium, taking the lives of six members of the crew; one airman survived the crash but was captured and taken PoW [he was interned in Stalag Luft L7 Bankau near Kreuzburg, Upper Silesia].
The airmen who perished in this attack and crash were-
RCAF Flying Officer John Ivan ATKINS,
RAFVR Flight Sergeant Donald Stirling CAMPBELL,
RAFVR Sergeant Leslie Robert GEE,
RAFVR Sergeant Charles Geoffrey LEE,
RAAF Flight Sergeant George Henry ROSE and
RCAF Pilot Officer Douglas Osborne THOMAS.
Military Service-
Service Number: 1314892
Rank: Flight Sergeant
Trade: Air Bomber
Age: 23
Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Division: 640 RAF Squadron, No. 4 Group, RAF Bomber Command; RAF Leconfield, Yorkshire
[No motto, no badge]
Son of J. E. S. and Margaret Campbell; husband of Elsie B. Campbell of Balham, London, England.
He is commemorated in perpetuity by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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