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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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No 12 Squadron
21/22.07.1942 No 12 Squadron Wellington Mk II Z8420 PH-G F/Lt. Langley

Operation: Duisburg, Germany

Date: 21/22nd July 1942 (Tuesday/Wednesday)

Unit: No. 12 Squadron

Type: Wellington Mk II

Serial: Z8420

Code: PH-G

Base: RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire

Location: Spierdijk, Noord, Holland

Pilot: Fl/Lt. John Charles Douglas Langley. 45429. RAF Age ? Killed

Obs: Fl/Sgt. Leo West. 1256886. RAFVR Age 20. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Kenneth Sampson Revell. 1380776. RAFVR Age 21. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Leslie Desmond Harris. 1166153. RAFVR Age 28. Killed

Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Harry Robert Hamilton. R/64416. RCAF Age 23. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:
Took off at 23.53hrs from RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire for a raid on the industrial city of Duisburg. Wellington Z8420 was shot down by Obit. Ludwig Becker of 6/NJG2 and crashed 02.30hrs at Spierdijk, Noord, Holland. 291 aircraft took part in this raid with the loss of 12.

                                                     

A Wellington Mk II

Burial details:

All the crew are buried in collective grave Plot 1. Row B. Coll. grave 12-16, Bergen General Cemetery, Netherlands

     

Left to right: F/Lt. Langley, Fl/Sgt. West, Sgt. Revell, Sgt. Harris and Fl/Sgt. Hamilton

                                                                                      

 Fl/Sgt. Leo West and his brother P/O. Robert John West are remembered on the Nevendon War Memorial in St. Peter Churchyard 

Fl/Lt. John Charles Douglas Langley. Son of John Kidger Batty Langley and Ida Langley of Baslow, Derybyshire. At the time of his death John's address was Bubnell Cottage, Baslow, Derbyshire

Fl/Sgt. Leo West. 1256886. Son of Robert William West and Kathlin West of Wickford, Essex. His brother P/O. Robert John West. 173984. RAFVR also fell on 28/29th June 1944 and is buried in Corneville-sur-Risle Churchyard, Eure, France. (Halifax MZ748) Leo and Robert are remembered on the Nevendon War Memorial in St. Peter Churchyard, Nevendon, Essex

Sgt. Kenneth Sampson Revell. Son of Richard Sampson Revell and Eva Gwendolyn Revell of Plympton, Devon

Sgt. Leslie Desmond Harris. Son of Reginald and Hilda Harris. Husband of Ethel Hart Harris. AIPA. At the time of his death Leslie's address was 45 Langford Court, Abbey Road, St. Johns Wood, London

Fl/Sgt. Harry Robert Hamilton. Son of Harry Victor and Mable Walker Hamilton. Harry was born on 27th February 1919 in Ontario, Canada and had served in the RCAF for 2 years

Researched by: Kate Tame for aircrewremembered and for all the relatives and friends of the crew

Acknowledgements: With special thanks to Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Find a Grave, W. R. Chorley - Bomber Command Losses 1942, Dr. Theo E. W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - Nightfighter War Diaries Vol. 1 and 2, Find a Grave, Imperial War Museum

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Acknowledgements
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and MWO François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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