Date:	Monday 30 July 1945
Time:
Type:	Avro Lancaster Mk I
Owner/operator:	166 Sqn RAF
Registration:	PA236
MSN:	AS-B2
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Barnetby Wold Farm, near RAF Kirmington, Lincolnshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Stradishall, Suffolk
Destination airport:	RAF Kirmington, Lincolnshire

Narrative:
Avro Lancaster B.Mk.I PA236 (AS-B2) 166 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) 30 July 1945 when crashed at Barnetby Wold Farm, near RAF Kirmington, Lincolnshire. All six crew killed. Aircraft crashed at the rear of a farm house just south of the airfield on the airfield boundary. The resultant fire could have consumed the house but was quickly brought under control by the emergency services from the adjoining airfield

This crew were tasked to ferry another crew to RAF Stradisall to collect an aircraft. The Willis crew returned to Kirmington and on approach to the airfield the aircraft stalled and spun in at Barnetby Wold Farm just south of the airfield.

The 166 Squadron ORB states that Flying Officer G L Willis and crew were detailed to fly aircraft B2 to Stradishall with Flight Lieutenant Finch as crew as passengers. The flight to Stradishall was completed without incident and Flight Lieutenant Finch and crew took over another aircraft. On the return journey Flying Officer Willis and crew in B2 crashed in the funnels of the circuit at Base and the six occupants of the crew were killed. The cause of the crash is unknown and is subject to investigation.

Crew of Lancaster PA236:
*Flying Officer Geoffrey Lionel Willis RAF Service Number 171573 (Pilot, aged 30) - Son of Albert Leslie and Gertrude Elizabeth Willis; husband of Joan Margaret Julia Willis, of Wembley, Middlesex. Buried at Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire.
*Sergeant John Jackson Pattison RAF Service Number 1571657 (Flight Engineer, aged 21) - Son of Albert Edmund and Mona Pattison, of Cullercoats, Northumberland, Buried at Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire.
*Flying Officer Leonard Roche RAF Service Number 165624 (Air Bomber, aged 35) - Son of Jack and Jeanette Roche; husband of Violet Doris Roche, of Tottenham, Middlesex. Buried at Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire
*Flight Sergeant John Alban Allen RAF Service Number 1588012 (Navigator, aged 20) - Son of John William and Katherine Allen, of Croscombe. Buried at Croscombe (St. Mary) Churchyard, Somerset.
*Sergeant Clervaux Francis Morley Saunders RAF Service Number 2205043 (Air Gunner, aged 20) - Son of William Morley Saunders and Emily Margaret Cecilia Saunders, of Wennington. Buried at Melling (St. Wilfred) Churchyard, Lancashire.
*Sergeant Harry Gilbert Russell RAF Service Number 3040015 (Radio Operator/Air Gunner, aged 20) - Son of William and Marion Edith Russell, of Thackley. Buried at Idle (Holy Trinity) Churchyard, West Yorkshire

1. . Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.33. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
3. The Lancaster File (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985)
4. http://www.bcar.org.uk/new1945-incident-logs#jul
5. https://www.northlincsweb.net/RAFElshamWolds/html/30th_july_1945_-_166_sqn_raf_kirmington_-_avro_lancaster_iii_-_p.html
6. http://www.rodcollins.com/wordpress/lancaster-crashes-in-lincolnshire-lancaster-crash-sites
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2651670/willis,-geoffrey-lionel/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2651432/pattison,-john-jackson/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2651511/roche,-leonard/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2403831/saunders,-clervaux-francis-morley/
11. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2692020/allen,-john-alban/
12. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2402661/russell,-harry-gilbert/

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Aug-2013 16:19	JINX	Added
02-Nov-2018 18:10	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
05-Nov-2019 00:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
05-Nov-2019 00:15	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Narrative]
05-Nov-2019 22:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Operator, Source, Narrative]
12-Nov-2019 22:20	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
19-Jul-2023 21:50	Nepa	Updated [[Operator, Operator]]