Crash Site Short Stirling R9312 LS-C

On Saturday, 17 October 1942, the Short Stirling of RAF XV Squadron crashed at this location. The aircraft was from RAF Bourn, Cambridgeshire, and its mission was to drop mines in the Bay of Biscay. On its return journey, it was hit by anti-aircraft fire above Nantes. The pilot, Arthur James Tanner, managed to make an emergency landing at Grandchamp-des-Fontaines, about 16 km north of Nantes, but the aircraft caught fire. He and four other crew members were killed. They are buried in the Pont-du-Cens municipal cemetery in Nantes. The two remaining crew members were taken prisoner of war and survived the war.

The crew of the aircraft consisted of:
Sergeant Arthur J. Tanner, pilot, 22 years old, NZ, killed in action
Sergeant Thomas Wood, navigator, 22 years old, GB, killed in action
Sergeant Robert W. Lovell, air gunner, 23 years old, GB, killed in action
Sergeant Noël E. Stone, bomb aimer, 32 years old, NZ, killed in action
Flight Sergeant Thomas R. Taylor, Can, killed in action
Sergeant Alan J. Edgar, flight engineer, GB, prisoner of war
Sergeant James H. Daley, air gunner, GB, prisoner of war

A monument commemorating the crew of the aircraft stands at the crash site.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: TracesofWar