Date:	Tuesday 30 April 1940
Time:	evening
Type:	Vickers Wellington Mk 1a
Owner/operator:	37 Sqn RAF
Registration:	P9215
MSN:	LF-H
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Missing - North Sea -   Norway
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Feltwell, Thetford, Norfolk
Destination airport:	RAF Feltwell

Narrative:
Wellington P9215/H: Lost on combat operations when failed to return from a raid on Stavanger, Norway, the night of 30 April/1 May 1940. As part of an effort to reduce the high level of Luftwaffe activity prior to the imminent evacuation of Namsos and Åndalsnes, the aircraft left RAF Feltwell at 17:40 hrs on 30 April 1940 for a bombing mission to Stavanger Airfield, Sola.

While approaching the Norwegian coast, the aircraft was shot down by the pilot of a German fighter and crashed into the sea, killing all five crew members. Wellington P9215 was last seen by rest of the British formation, diving away westwards with fighters in pursuit. It was also noted that they had the retractable ventral “dustbin” turret down.
Crew of Wellington P9215:
F/O Gerald Victor Gordon (39080) RAF - killed
P/O Talbot Kerr (70863) RAF - killed
Sgt Walter Eddleston (524172) RAF killed
LAC William Edward Brewster (546678) RAF - killed
AC.2 William Aubrey Seymour (629671) RAF - killed

As the exact time of the aircraft loss is not certain, the crew were posted as "missing presumed dead" on 30 April 1940 - which implies that Wellington P9215 was shot down before midnight on the night of 30 April 1940 (note all other aircraft returned to Feltwell by 00:25). No trace was ever found of Wellington P9215 or its crew, and all five are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1980 p 51)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/186: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14142011
3. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-vickers-408-wellington-ia-stavanger-5-killed
4. https://www.backtonormandy.org/component/mtree/air-force-operations/airplanes-allies-and-axis-lost/wellington/26359-P92151940-05-01.html
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1798567/gordon,-gerald-victor/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1802670/kerr,-talbot/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/232743/eddleston,-walter/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1530402/brewster,-william-edward/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2941140/seymour,-william-aubrey/
10. National Archives Kew 37 Sqdn ORB Record of Events doc AIR27/388/12

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Jun-2019 23:07	Dr. John Smith	Added
13-Jun-2019 02:41	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
05-Mar-2024 11:38	Nepa	Updated [Location, Destination airport, Narrative, Operator]
05-Mar-2024 11:59	Nepa	Updated [Operator]
10-Mar-2024 20:32	Redwine163	Updated [Time, Source, Narrative]