Cotton, Ernest James (Flight Sergeant)

Took off from Snaith at 23:14 in Halifax Mk II (Sqn code MH-Z Bomber Command) on an operation to Essen Germany.

Hit by heavy flak over the target and crashed at Bocholderstraße, Recklinghausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany.

Killed includes Cotton: Sergeant Andrew Aitken RAF KIA Reichswald Forest War Cemetery grave 18. B. 1. Sergeant John Henry Mastin RAF KIA Reichswald Forest War Cemetery grave 18. B. 3. Sergeant Douglas John Smith RAF KIA Reichswald Forest War Cemetery grave 18. B. 5. Flying Officer Alexander Bell Pate Wilson RAF KIA Reichswald Forest War Cemetery grave 18. B. 2.

POWs: Sergeant Francis John Prothero RAF POW Stalag 357 Kopernikus. Sergeant William Frederick Turner RAF POW Stalag 357 Kopernikus.