No. 207 SQUADRON RAF LANCASTER W4191: 21 DECEMBER 1942
Lancaster W4191 of No. 207 Squadron (RAF) took off from RAF Langar at 1715 hours on the night of 21 December 1942 to bomb Munich, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Post war it was established that the aircraft was shot down by a night fighter and crashed at 0002 hours on 22 December at Elst (Ultrecht), 20kms south east of Amersfoort, Holland). All the crew members had been killed and they are buried in the Amersfoort (Oud Leusden) General Cemetery, Utrecht, Netherlands.
The crew members of W4191 were:
Flying Officer Douglas Robert Bannerman (414380) (RNZAF) (Second Pilot) (No. 467 Squadron RAAF) *
Sergeant Harold Bate (1195168) (RAFVR) (Navigator Bomb Aimer) **
Sergeant Gordon Joseph Bentley (1020750) (RAF) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Cecil Albert Davey (1581901) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant George James Dean (1318175) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Peter Clinch Hind (657626) (RAFVR) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant James Roy Walker (1119267) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
* Flying Officer Bannerman (RNZAF) was a member of No. 467 Squadron RAAF who had been selected for operations that evening with No. 207 Squadron. He is the first World War II casualty for No. 467 Squadron.
** Sergeant Bate was the husband of Mary Rebecca Bate, of Chelsea, Victoria, Australia and an Ordained Minister of Religion. In the post-war era, his widow Mary (Died 1957) and their son Gordon (Died 2012) migrated to Australia.
Two others from Flying Officer Bannerman’s crew in No. 467 Squadron were also selected to fly that evening with other No. 207 Squadron crews. Sergeant James Roy Lee (575842) (RAF) (Flight Engineer) (PoW: 15 August 1943) completed a successful operation and returned from the mission, while Sergeant Kenneth Gibson (137520) (Navigator) (Killed on Air Operations: 15 August 1943) did not take off on the mission the plane being unserviceable.
References:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
International Bomber Command Website