Memorial Killed Crew Avro Manchester L7523

This plaque commemorates the crew members of the Avro Manchester L7523 of 207 Squadron Bomber Command who lost their lives at this site on 14 January 1942.

The bomber left RAF Bottesford 15 minutes late on 14 January 1942 due to technical problems for a mission along with 94 other bombers over Hamburg.

The plane took off at 5.35pm and was airborne for 3 hours and 15 minutes. It is unlikely to have had enemy contact during that time and technical problems were the cause of the crash. At 9.15pm, the plane crashed burning over Milton Hill, Holmpton.

The Avro Manchester was the forerunner of the later so successful Lancaster. The aircraft certainly had potential but suffered reliability problems on the Vulture engines from the start. The aircraft was decommissioned at the end of June 1942.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: John Sadler