When their Lancaster ED923-V was shot down by a night fighter on 9th July 1943, the entire crew was killed.
Pilot: F/O Robert Bertram Douglas Palmer
Flight Engineer: Sgt Charles Victor King
Navigator: F/O Ramesh Chandra Datta
Bomb Aimer: Sgt William Stephens
W/Op: Sgt Alan Raymond Harris
Mid-Upper Gunner: Sgt Dennis Charles Herbert Holding
Rear gunner: Sgt Douglas Cameron
DETAILS
ORB: 8/9 July 1943 Cologne – Bomb Load 4 x TI, 1 X 4000lb, 5 X 1000lb
ED923Y F/O R.B.D.Palmer, Sgt C.V.King, F/O R.C.Datta, Sgts W.R.Stephens, A.R.Harris, D.C.Holding, D.Cameron. 1 x 4000lb 15 SBC. Up 2316 – aircraft and crew missing.
Extract from Bomber Command Losses –Lancaster III ED923 OF – V. Op Cologne. T/O 2316 Bourn. Shot down by a night fighter (Lt Friedrich Erlinghagen 5/NJG1) and crashed at Bassenge (Liege) on the Geer, 14km NNE of Liege. All were taken to St-Truiden for burial on 10 July, since when their remains have been brought to Heverlee War Cemetery. F/O Datta of Calcutta was an associate of the Royal College of Science.
