Wellington T2473 9 Sqn

[Willi Vrielink]

Hello,

I'm searching informations, fotos etc from the Wellington T2473, WS-M, and their crew form the 9th squadron. The Wellington was shot down on 9. April 1941 by Oblt. Fritz Gutezeit, Stab III./NJG 1, near Nordhorn, Germany.

P/O George Guy Sharp KIA
P/O John Norman Fisher KIA
P/O Richard Cardew Rendle KIA
Sgt Joseph Anderson KIA
Sgt Cyril Bruce Parris KIA
P/O Walter Patrick Strickland KIA

I hope someone can help me.

Regards,

Willi Vrielink

[Hans Nauta]

Hi Willi,

It's not much of help I'm afraid, but T2473 was involved in a bombardment on a secondary target in my area of research. In the night of 10/11th Februari 1941 this Wellington was tasked to bomb the oil storages of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Owing to clouds obscuring the target the crew decided to bomb IJmuiden at 20.20 hrs from 12,000 ft with 4 x 500 lbs and 120 x 4 lbs Inc. Three bombs were seen to explode on the channel bank near a building and some fires were started by the incendiairies
While crossing the English coast on the way back the Welington was engaged by the British ack-ack, although they had fired off the signal of the day.
Some confusion concerning the alternative target occured in the consulted documents, the Operations Record Book and Appendixes of ORB 3 Group HQ indicating IJmuiden as target, the Form E Summaries indicating Nijmegen as target.

The crew which flew that night in T2473 were:
P: Sgt HALL, Bernard Preston, 758066 RAF VR
CP: Sgt BROWN, J. R. , 937473 RAF
OB: Sgt MANGER, William James, 910906 RAF VR
WO: Sgt SMITH, William Leslie, 945932 RAF VR
FG: Sgt HAMMOND, John William, 944304 RAF VR
RG: Sgt COLLINS, E., 615282 RAF

Regards and Good Luck,
Hans Nauta

[TonyC]

Hi Guys,

T2473 was a Wellington Ic. Sorry, I have no more info on this. ops:

[Alex Smart]

Hi,

T2473 WS-M of 9 Sqdn

Details from BCL vol 2

Op: Berlin
Crashed at Veldhausen, 12 km NW of Nordhorn, Germany.
All buried in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.

Hope this helps

Alex