Hampden I P1326

Arthur Luxmoore and his crew took off from RAF Hemswell at around 10.30pm on the 11th of May 1940 in Hampden 1, P1326 for the operation. At 12.30 am they were at 6,000 feet and approaching the target area when they were hit by flak several times which caused severe damage to the starboard engine and to the rudder controls.

Arthur Luxmoore managed to steer the stricken bomber in a westerly direction, slowly losing height. An hour after being hit, with the starboard engine having stopped, he ordered his crew to bail out and all three landed safely on the Allied side of the Maginot Line. They returned to Hemswell two days later.  

Sadly Arthur Luxmoore did not escape from the aircraft and was killed when it crashed near Finnevaux (Namur), 11 kilometres south, south east of Dinant in Belgium at 1.20am.