Date:	Monday 18 December 1939
Time:	14:10
Type:	Vickers Wellington Mk IA
Owner/operator:	149 Sqn RAF
Registration:	N2962
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Wilhelmshaven -   Germany
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk (EGUN)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Wellington N2962 "OJ-B" of 149 Squadron, RAF, took off from RAF Mildenhall at 09:27 Local Time. Shot down from 10,000 feet by a Messerschmitt Me.110 executing a beam attack at 14:10 Local Time. This was the first Wellington to be shot down during the operation and it was seen to dive vertically into the sea following a sharp explosion forward of the astrodome.

According to the official combat history and the squadron ORB (Operational Record Book - RAF Form 540): [on December 18 1939] "...during another raid on Wilhelmshaven, a formation of 22 Wellingtons was picked up some 70 miles out by a German radar post which alerted a nearby fighter base. The bombers had been forced into a more open formation by flak and, with no cloud cover to hide in, the Wellingtons were easily picked off by the defenders. Twelve aircraft were lost over the target area.", All five crew of Wellington N2962 were killed:

F/O J. H. C. Speirs,
P/O F. N. Lines,
Sgt R. R. Hammond,
LAC J. H. Sinton,
AC2 W. J. Ellis.

1. Air Britain: RAF Aircraft L1000 - N9999, published 1991
2. https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/air-force-operations/airplanes-allies-and-axis-lost/wellington/RAF10456.html
3. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=36794
4. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/_0_1939_12_Losses/19391218_WELLINGTON_N2940/Wellington_N2940.htm]
5. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.baaa-acro.com/1939/archives/crash-of-a-vickers-wellington-in-north-sea-5-killed/]

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-Jan-2012 11:06	Uli Elch	Added
29-Sep-2015 19:36	sandman56	Updated [Narrative]
14-Jan-2017 22:35	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
23-Dec-2017 18:30	Nepa	Updated [Time, Operator]
18-Oct-2018 14:05	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]