William Dudley Palmer                          Updated: 04 MAR 2021

Airman: a103001.htm Surname: Palmer Init: W D Rank: Sgt Service: RAF Sqdn: 408

P_link: p077.htm Plane: HAM AT224 Operation: Minelaying Crash_site: Sea SW of Samsø

Crash_d: d150542 Buried_d: b140642 C_link: c103.htm At_Next: Tranebjerg

Natten 15.-16. maj 1942 kl. 02.00 styrtede HAM AT224 i havet sydvest for Samsø,
måske omkring  her. Flyvehistorisk Tidsskrift skriver:
"Hampden mk. 1. AT224 (EQ-). 408 BS, 5 BG, Balderton, Notts. (Minering: »Pumpkin« i
Store Bælt). 2 MIA og 2 KIA. Se Minelægningsområder.

Denne nat var en forholdsvis rolig nat for RAF. Den eneste operation var 50 fly, der foretog minering i den vestlige del af Østersøen. Operationen var et led i englændernes forsøg på at forhindre de store tyske krigsskibe »Lutzow« og »Prinz Eugen« i gennemsejling til og fra
Norge. To Hampdens og to Wellingtons gik tabt. På hjemturen blev AT224 ramt af flak fra en tysk minestryger, der befandt sig sydvest for Samsø. Flyet eksploderede i luften og styrtede derefter brændende ned i farvandet Ø-NØ for Endelave (måske omkring her). - - Telegrafisten, Sgt. William Dudley Palmer, drev i land ved Samsø den 14. juni 1942, og han blev begravet
på Tranebjerg kirkegård den efterfølgende dag under militære æresbevisninger fra
værnemagten og den lokale marineforening." (FT 90-46-4) Se p077MACR.

Sergeant (Wireless Operator / Air Gunner) William Dudley Palmer, 27 år, var søn af
William Hurry Palmer og Mary Christiana Palmer, Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk, United Kingdom. (Kilde: CWGC) 4 flyvere.

In the night 15.-16. May 1942 at 02.00 hours HAM AT224 crashed into the sea south
west of Samsø, maybe about here.See p077MACR.(Danish) Aviation Historical Review writes:
"Hampden I. AT224 (EQ-). 408 BS, 5 BG, Balderton, Notts. (Minelaying: »Pumpkin« in the
Store Bælt). 2 MIA and 2 KIA. See Minelaying areas.

This was a rather quiet night for the RAF. The only operation was 50 planes that carried out
a minelaying operation in the western part of the Baltic Sea. The operation was a part of the British attempt to prevent the big German naval ships "Lutzow" and "Prinz Eugen" from sailing to and from Norway. 2 Hampdens and 2 Wellingtons were lost.
On the return flight AT224 was hit by flak from a German mine sweeper on a position south west of Samsø. The plane exploded in the air and crashed, burning,
into the waters E-NE of Endelave (maybe about here). - - On 14 June 1942 Sgt (Wireless Operator) William Dudley Palmer was washed ashore on Samsø, and
he was buried in Tranebjerg Churchyard on the following day with full military honours from the Wehrmacht and the local association of Mariners."  (FT 90-46-4)

Sergeant (Wireless Operator / Air Gunner) William Dudley Palmer, 27, was the son of
William Hurry Palmer and Mary Christiana Palmer, of Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk, United Kingdom. (Source: CWGC)
He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel 82.

See No. 6 Group and the Canadian Squadrons * No. 408 (Goose) Squadron RCAF * 408 "Goose" Squadron Association.
Hampden I AT224 EQ- took off from RAF Balderton on 15 MAY 1942    (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this.) 4 airmen.