Date:	Friday 13 April 1945
Time:	10:45
Type:	Vickers Wellington X
Owner/operator:	RAF 10 AGS (Air Gunnery School, RAF Walney/Barrow)
Registration:	LP981
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 7
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Fleetwood, Lancs, 1 mile NW of lifeboat station, 250yds from shore. -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	Walney Island
Destination airport:	Fleetwood

Narrative:
A training flight (an air to sea gunnery exercise) from Walney Island to Fleetwood and return. 35 minutes after take-off the aircraft was flying very low - the pilot made a turn and the port wing struck the sea.
The crew who died were:
Pilot: P-782840 Senior Sergeant (ST. Sierz) Leon Trzebiatowski, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari, Polish Air Force aged 25.
Instructor: 1314386 W/O. Harold Harris, W.Op./Air Gnr. RAFVR, aged 24.
Trainee: 1824294 Sgt. Michael Francis Brennan, W.Op, RAFVR, aged 21.
Trainee: 1594311 Sgt. Norman Richard Drake, W.Op, RAFVR, aged 19.
Trainee: 2209933 Sgt. Ronald Walker McMillan, W.Op, RAFVR, aged 20.
These two were injured and rescued from the sea:
Trainee: Sgt J. Edward Bedell, W.Op, RAFVR, aged 20.
Trainee: 2221770 Sgt R. A. Bembridge, W.Op, RAFVR, aged 19.

LP981 from batch of 44 Mk X: Vickers, Chester - LP943-LP986. 981 had 2x Hercules XVI engines

https://family.adamgilliver.co.uk/Robert_Bembridge/index.php
There are 17 pages detailing the RAF service of 2221770 Sgt Robert Bembridge -
https://family.adamgilliver.co.uk/Robert_Bembridge/friday_13th.php has photos of the wreck at low tide.

Also here: https://aircrewremembered.com/trzebiatowski-leon.html

Also here: https://aircrewremembered.com/trzebiatowski-leon.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
18-Oct-2025 05:59	Peter Maxfield	Added