1953 Avro Lincoln shootdown incident

Cold War incident over East Germany

1953 Avro Lincoln shootdown incident

Part of the Cold War

Avro Lincoln aircraft similar to the one shot down over East Germany

Type| Aircraft Shot-down
Location|

west of Boizenburg, East Germany

53°22′40″N 10°39′40″E﻿ / ﻿53.37778°N 10.66111°E﻿ / 53.37778; 10.66111
Objective| Intercept RAF Avro Lincoln aircraft
Date| 12 March 1953
Executed by| Soviet Air Forces
Casualties| 7 British airmen killed

The 1953 Avro Lincoln shootdown incident was the shooting down of a British Avro Lincoln four-engined bomber which had intruded into East German airspace during a training mission on 12 March 1953. While the aircraft was flying on the Hamburg-Berlin air corridor over East Germany it was shot down by a Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 fighter.

## Incident

[edit]

The Avro Lincoln was operated by the Central Gunnery School at RAF Leconfield and was on a routine long-distance training flight.[1] The aircraft was intercepted by two Soviet MiG 15 fighters and after it failed to respond to challenges it was shot down by the fighters' 23 mm cannon.[1][2] The Avro Lincoln crashed east of Boizenburg, on the border of the British and Soviet zones, impacting in a wood between Vierkrug and Horst in the Soviet Zone.[1] It was initially reported that six of the seven crew had been killed and one wounded; the wounded airman was one of three who had bailed out, but later died in hospital.[1][3] German civilians on the ground reported that two British airmen bailed out from the doomed aircraft, only to be strafed and killed by one of the MiG 15s.[2]

## Aftermath

[edit]

The British government represented by the United Kingdom High Commissioner in Germany protested to the Soviet High Commissioner in Germany against the attack on a British aircraft and death of British servicemen.[1] The Soviet news agency stated that the Lincoln had been flying over the German Democratic Republic and had failed to respond to lawful commands to land at the nearest airfield and had shot at the fighters.[1] The British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden described it as a "barbaric" act.[1] The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill condemned the attack in a statement to parliament and emphasised the Avro Lincoln was not armed and within the agreed air corridor.[4] British historian Richard Aldrich claims that while the bomber was not directly involved in airborne intelligence gathering, "its progress was being carefully tracked by a British 'sigint' unit on the ground at RAF Scharfoldendorf in the British Zone of Germany".[2]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g "British Bomber Shot Down by Russian Fighters". The Times. No. 52569\. London. 13 March 1953. p. 8.
2. ^ a b c "Historian clears clouds over spying and shot-down bomber". www.yorkshirepost.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2017-08-21. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
3. ^ "Airmen's Bodies Recovered". The Times. No. 52571\. London. 16 March 1953. p. 8.
4. ^ "Wanton Attack on RAF Lincoln". The Times. No. 52573\. London. 18 March 1953. p. 8.

* v
* t
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Aviation accidents and incidents in 1953 (1953)

Jan 5

Nutts Corner Viking accident

Jan 7

Associated Air Transport Trip 1-6-6A

Jan 15

RAF Mediterranean Sea mid-air collision

Feb 2

Skyways Avro York

Feb 14

National Airlines Flight 470

Mar 12

Avro Lincoln shootdown incident

Mar 20

Transocean Air Lines Flight 942

Apr 20

Western Air Lines Flight 636

May 2

BOAC Flight 783

May 17

Delta Air Lines Flight 318

May 27

Kemerovo mid-air collision

Jun 14

Aeroflot Flight 229

Jun 18

Tachikawa air disaster

Jul 12

Transocean Air Lines Flight 512

Jul 17

USMC R4Q NROTC crash

Aug 3

Air France Flight 152

Sep 1

Air France Flight 178

Sep 16

American Airlines Flight 723

Oct 14

Sabena Convair Crash

Oct 27

Aeroflot Flight 783

Oct 29

BCPA Flight 304

Nov 23

Felix Moncla

1952  ◄ ► 1954
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