World War 2 breakthrough as washed-up debris on Dutch beach ‘match’ lost RAF bomber

The piece of the wrecked WW2 ‘Short Stirling’ four-engined heavy bomber was discovered by locals on the beach at Camperduin, a small village in the province of North Holland. Analysis of serial numbers on the twisted hunk of metal have indicated that the craft is most likely the bomber BF396, which never returned to RAF Newmarket following a raid on industrial facilities in the Fallersleben district of Wolfsburg, Germany, on the night of December 17, 1942. Shot down by a Nazi fighter plane, the BF396 was lost along with its crew, which included – pilot Victor Mitchell, second pilot Trevor Horace Bagnall, navigator Reginald William Pearson and air bomber Gerald Thomas Padden. Also lost was wireless operator Stuart John Goff, flight engineer Robert Hart, mid-upper gunner Arthur Henry Rider and rear gunner Albert Charles William Parker.

Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1589781/world-war-2-lost-raf-bomber-found-debris-dutch-beach-germany