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| Date: | Saturday 5 August 1944 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Vickers Wellington XIV |
| Owner/operator: | CCDU |
| Registration: | HF275 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Off Pembrokeshire Coast. -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Angle. |
| Return. |
Details:
Wellington HF275.
She was built at the Vickers works; Chester then issued to the RAF at No. 32MU at RAF St Athan on the 21st of December 1943. No 32 MU was engaged in the installation of airborne radar equipment, both Airborne Interception (AI) and Air-Surface Vessel (ASV). Now with her new equipment she was posted 304 squadron on the 30th of that month.
No. 304 (Land of Silesia) Polish Bomber Squadron.
304 was a Polish bomber squadron formed in the United Kingdom as part of an agreement between the Polish Government in exile and the United Kingdom in 1940. It was one of 15 squadrons of the Polish Air Force in exile that served alongside the RAF. It served from April 1941 as a bomber unit in Bomber Command and from May 1942 as an anti-submarine unit in RAF Coastal Command.
Hf275 received the radio code ‘2-R’ but didn’t fly on an operation until the night of the 13/14th of January 1944 flown by the crew of F/Lt J. Cohalski on a routine patrol. She flew on numerous missions whilst with the squadron but without making contact with the enemy. On the 4th of May she was sent to the aircraft pool at RAF Haverford West. On the 3rd of July she ferried to RAF Angle and CCDU.
Coastal Command Development Unit (CCDU).
In September 1943 the RAF and CCDU relocated from RAF Dale to RAF Angle. The unit’s initial purpose was to undertake service trials of all radar equipment such as air-to-surface (ASV) radar to assist RAF Coastal Command Operations. It was required to investigate the tactics for the use of all types of radar equipment in RAF Coastal Command aircraft, but its role changed to cover both service and tactical trial of all RAF Coastal Command aircraft and equipment, including trials of anti-submarine warfare equipment and techniques, essentially submarine detection and destruction from the air. One of the key tests performed while at RAF Angle was to measure audibility of aircraft from submarines on the surface. Utilising the Leigh Light and radar search, one of the trials carried out was to see how close to a submarine the different aircraft the unit used could get, before they were audibly detected. The unit operated a wide variety of aircraft types to carry out the trials:
• Consolidated Liberator GR Mk.V.
• H.P. Halifax GR. II.
• Vickers Wellington B Mark X & XIV.
• Vickers Warwick GR Mk II.
• Bristol Beaufighter TF Mk.X.
A lot of the evaluation was with ASV radar. In the Bristol Channel the unit utilised lightships (Including the Helwick which had just returned on station after its use during the D-Day landings, call-sign JUNO. She now remains a rusting hulk on the banks of the River Neath after somehow avoiding the breakers yard at ‘Giants Grave’, Briton Ferry.) Other small Merchant ships were also used to evaluate their equipment and tactics (as these were thought to give similar returns to partially submerged submarines). Eventually these types of ships could be detected 6 miles (10 km) away. From this the unit then developed a low visibility airstrike method, which also included ASV radar led blind bombing. With the trials completed the unit left for RAF Thorney Island, before being disbanded on the 1st of January 1945. Re-forming to become the Air-Sea Warfare Development Unit.
Wellington HF275 with an aircrew of five, took off from RAF Angle on a training flight. Tragically, a flare ignited in the Wellington's bomb bay resulting in a fire and causing the aircraft to crash into the sea off the coast of Pembrokeshire, taking the lives of the entire crew.
Crew:
F/O Maurice Williamson 32yo 159578 RAFVR. Pilot. Killed 1
Son of Ralph Taylor Williamson and Vallie Ann Williamson, of Houghton-le-Spring.
F/O Jack Seward 27yo 139807 RAFVR. Missing 2
Son of Horace and Bertha Mabel Seward, of Bromley, Kent; husband of Raynella Jean Seward, of Bromley.
S/Ldr Wilfred Earle Nixon 81353 RAFVR. Missing 3
F/O Edwin Harold Holden 30yo 169409 RAFVR. Missing 4
Son of Sidney and Louisa May Holden; husband of Emily Holden, of Balham, London.
F/O Victor Noel Gaston Fournier 23yo 169408 RAFVR. A/Gnr. Killed 5
Son of Alphonse William and Helen Maude Fournier; husband of Mary Fournier, of Fulham, London.
Buried:
1 Houghton-le-Spring (Durham Road) Cemetery. Section B. Grave 2114.
2 Runnymede Memorial. Panel 209.
3 Runnymede Memorial. Panel 201.
4 Runnymede Memorial. Panel 206.
5 Angle (St Mary) Churchyard.
Wreckage:
Unknown.
Memorials:
At RAF Angle.
Additional Information:
CCDU was staffed by crews on attachment from their current squadrons. The crew of HF275 all (apart from Williamson) belonged to 612 squadron RAF. F/O Williamson was CCDU.
Sources:
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
www.cwgc.org
www.find
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 18-Jul-2024 05:25 | Davies 62 | Added |
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