| Aircraft | Avro Lancaster III |
| Serial Number | NE173 |
| Markings | PM-F |
| Burial/Memorial Country | France |
| Burial/Memorial Place | Bretteville-Sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery |
| Grave Reference | XII. C. 12.. |
| Epitaph | A PRESBYTERIAN. EVER REMEMBERED BY DAD, MUM, MAY AND JEAN |
| Phase | 1 |
| Panel Number | 120 |
| Service Number | 426944 |
| Service | Royal Australian Air Force |
| Group | 1 |
| Squadron | 103 |
| Trade | Air Gunner |
| Country of origin if different | Australia |
| Cooper R H (F/S) |
| Duns J P (F/S) |
| Gallagher J D (P/O) |
| Hollingsworth D R (P/O) |
| Jennings J E (Sgt) |
| Way W H (F/L) |
| Start Date | 06-06-1944 |
| End Date | 07-06-1944 |
| Takeoff Station | Elsham Wolds |
| Day/Night raid | Night |
| Operation | To bomb two railway bridges situated at Vire in Calvados, Northern France which was an important road and rail junction on the River Vire which would have been used to supply any German invasion effort. |
| Reason for Loss | Take off 2140. To bomb communication lines in Vire. Approaching the target, they were shot at by night fighter. With both wings on fire NE173 continued its bombing run and bombed the markers. It is possible the crew shot the attacking fighter down. Just beyond the target and still on fire, NE173 made a slow descending turn 180 degrees to port flying back in the direction from which it had come. The pilot seems to have attempted a crash landing in a field at Maisonseule, about 2 miles NE of Vire. Witnesses on the ground say the Lancaster hit the ground at a very shallow angle which broke off the tail. The main section of the aircraft continued at some speed along the ground, shedding burning wreckage, coming to rest yards from a farmhouse close to Omaha beach. No crew baled out. All seven crew killed |