Antwerp
15 September 1940 — Antwerp
- Date
- 15 September 1940
- Target
- Antwerp, Belgium
Narrative
Through the late summer of 1940 Bomber Command struck repeatedly at the fleets of invasion barges the Germans were massing in the Channel and North Sea ports. On the night of 15 September a No. 83 Squadron Handley Page Hampden attacking the barge concentrations at Antwerp was set ablaze by anti-aircraft fire. Its 18-year-old wireless operator, Sergeant John Hannah, stayed aboard and fought the flames with extinguishers and his bare hands while the rear gunner and navigator baled out, beating out the fire so the pilot could fly the wrecked aircraft home. Hannah was awarded the Victoria Cross — and remains the youngest airman ever to receive it.
Order of battle
1 aircraft. Each crew links to the men who flew it; each airman to their own record.
| Aircraft | Type | Squadron | Pilot | Crew | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1355 | Handley Page Hampden | Returned |
The fallen
33 airmen in this archive died on 15 September 1940 or the day that followed. For a raid of this kind these are overwhelmingly the night's losses, though a death-date match is not by itself proof an individual flew this operation.
- Aircraftman 2nd Class Trevor George Adams
- Pilot Officer Arthur Frederick Copithorne Carson (19)
- Pilot Officer Anthony Hugh Cholmeley (22)
- Leading Aircraftman George Wiliam Valentine Corney
- Pilot Officer Georges Louis Joseph Doutrepont
- Aircraftman 2nd Class Robert Foster (21)
- Sergeant Luke James Furze
- Aircraftman 2nd Class James William Green (32)
- Sergeant John Cresswell Greig (22)
- Pilot Officer John Vinter Gurteen (24)
- Sergeant Ronald Macaulay Heyworth (19)
- Pilot Officer John Irvine Humphreys (24)
- Sergeant James Kelly (22)
- Flying Officer Hugh Michael Stanford Lambert (22)
- Pilot Officer Gerald Archibald Langley (24)
- Sergeant Norman Cyril Manser (19)
- Pilot Officer Roy Achille Marchand
- Aircraftman 2nd Class Dugald Forbes McCallum (20)
- Flying Officer Miles John Miley (22)
- Flying Officer Arthur Peter Pease (22)
- Sergeant Leslie Pidd (22)
- Sergeant Humphrey Lawrence Stewart Price
- Pilot Officer Eric Samuel Roberts
- Flying Officer Clarence Sydney Robson
See all 33 who died on 15 September →
Source: Wikipedia — John Hannah (VC) →