13 LIVES LOST

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21112, 4 June 1943, Page 3

13 LIVES LOST

AIR LINER SHOT DOWN LESLIE HOWARD’S FATE BAY OF BISCAY TRAGEDY LONDON, June 2. Believed to have been shot down by a German plane, a British Overseas Airways Douglas air liner was lost en route from Lisbon to Foynes. The passengers included the actor, Leslie Howard. British Overseas Airways Corporation, in a statement, said: “The corporation regrets to announce that a civil aircraft en route from Lisbon to the United Kingdom, carrying 13 passengers and four of a crew is overdue and presumed lost. The last message from the aircraft stated that it was being attacked by an enemy aircraft.” Messages from Lisbon say that it is learned that the Douglas was shot down over the Bay of Biscay. Among the passengers were three small British children. The Douglas left Lisbon at 9 a.m. yesterday and the last communication was received from the plane at 11 a.m. The plane was a Dutch K.L.M. liner operating for British Overseas Airways. The weather in the Bay of Biscay is rough, making the search for occupants who may have escaped in rubber dinghies difficult. Mr. Howard arrived at Lisbon on May 27 on a lecturing tour under the auspices of the British Council.