This Lancaster took off from RAF Station Kelstern, Lancashire at 21:58 on 21 May 1944 on a raid to Duisburg, Germany. The pilot was American 1st Lt Max E. Dowden, USAAF.

He and the Flight Engineer Sgt Francis H. R. Moody, RAF, aged 19, lost their lives in the loss of the aircraft, which was last seen near the Dutch-Belgian border a little over midnight on 22 May 1944. Crashed near Meer (Hoogstraten), Belgium. The five other crew members were Bombardier Sgt Arthur W. Brickenden (RCAF - Canadian), Navigator F/O David J. Weepers (RCAF), Radio Operator/Gunner Sgt Richard E. Reeves, Gunner Sgt Russell Margerison and Tail Gunner Sgt Gilbert F. McElroy.

McElroy was captured on 23 May, but the four others managed to evade for a time with the help of Belgian patriots and underground members. They and many of their helpers were caught on 25 July 1944 in Antwerp, Belgium, in a wave of arrests organized by Belgian traitor René Van Muylem and his KLM false evasion line.