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| Date: | Saturday 30 November 1940 |
| Time: | 01:02 |
| Type: |  Vickers Wellington Mk IC |
| Owner/operator: | 214 (Federated Malay States) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | T2893 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 6 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Poplar Farm, Elmdon, Essex, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Stradishall |
| RAF Luqa, Malta |
During the night of 29-30 November 1940, the Wellington IC T2893 of the Reserve Flight, 214 Sqn RAF, took off at 0051 hrs from Stradishall for a delivery flight to Luqa, Malta. The pilot, Sqn Ldr B J McGinn, a highly experienced pilot with more than 4200 hours to his credit, was from 70 Sqn based in Egypt and was one of the pilots of this squadron who went to Britain to collect the first Wellingtons with which the squadron was re-equipping. He had flown one operation with 214 Sqn on the 14th, a raid to Schiphol airfield.
The Wellington experienced an engine failure shortly after taking off and the pilot turned back. Flaps failed and he could not maintain height. Landing flares also failed. These were carried by most multi-engined RAF aircraft during night flying from about mid-1930s, the theory being that as they descended following engine failure, they could release one or both of these flares to try and establish what type of country lay below so as to enable the pilot to choose the best landing site available, which sometimes was far from ideal. However at least you might avoid flying into a hill or perhaps into trees or a stone wall. These were a type of parachute flare and were probably a considerable advance on the earlier type of fixed flare caried under the wingtips of most single-engine aircraft of the time.
Between 0100 hrs and 0110 hrs depending on sources, the most recent giving 0102 hrs, T2893 struck trees, crashed and caught fire near Poplar Farm, Elmdon, Essex. Two of the six crew were killed and three wounded.
This is described by Duncan Wood who remembers:
"I was only 6 at the time and I slept through the crash itself, even though I was sleeping on that side of the house. My mother woke me and I remember the room being filled with light and the yard was filled with an assortment of folk - firemen, RAF personnel etc.
According to the Pilot of T2893 who spoke to my parents they were on a "secret mission to Cairo". He thought "the plane had been sabotaged as he couldn’t gain height". The Navigator said he thought "they were running into cloud", but realized that could not be possible and "that they were actually crashing into trees".
Crew:
S/Ldr ( 29042) Brian James McGiNN (pilot) RAF injured
P/O (90770) John Arnold PARKER (RAF) injured
Plt Off A D BRISBANE injured
Sgt R D F CLARKE unhurt
Sgt (971156) John RAGGENBASS (WOp/AG) RAFVR killed
Sgt (NZ401220) Claude Horace BAIN (AG) RNZAF killed
Sources:
http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?16308-Loss-of-Wellington-1c-T2893-214-Sqn-29-30-Nov-1940
http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C17445
http://adf-serials.com.au/nz-serials/nzwellington.htm
"Royal Air Force Bomber Losses in the Middle East and Mediterranean. Volume 1: 1939-1942", by David Gunby and Pelham Temple. ISBN 1-85780-234-9
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmdon
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=fr&lat=52.034560&lon=0.134290&z=12
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 30-Nov-2017 21:58 | Laurent Rizzotti | Added |
| 23-Mar-2021 17:01 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator, ] |
| 03-Aug-2024 22:11 | Nepa | Updated [Narrative, Operator, ] |
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