ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 152182
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| Date: | Tuesday 26 January 1943 |
| Time: | 01:46 |
| Type: |  Vickers Wellington Mk IC |
| Owner/operator: | 15 OTU RAF |
| Registration: | R1491 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5 |
| Other fatalities: | 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Bwlch-y-rhiw Farm, on the B4580 Oswestry road 2 miles from the village -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Harwell |
Wellington Ic R1491 of 15 OTU RAF took off at 2146 hrs from RAF Harwell for a night navigation exercise. At about 0140 hrs on the 26th, Royal Observer Corps lookouts saw the Wellington on fire and it is believed that it may have struck the 1,100ft ridge of Craig-y-rhiw or the tiny hill-fort of Coed-y-Gaer, fracturing fuel lines or tanks before being catapulted back in the air.
At 0146 hrs the Wellington crashed into the side of Bwlch Y Rhiw farmhouse, on the B4580 Oswestry road two miles from the village of Llansilin, Shropshire (precise location is 52° 18’ N 3°59’ W). All five crew died. The occupants of the house, Edwin Williams and his wife Annie Jane were also killed, but their son Dan and daughter Nancy survived, as did a Land Girl who was staying at the house. Nancy and the Land Girl were trapped by the fire which followed the collision and very bravely rescued by Dan, who suffered serious injuries during the rescue.
Crew (all killed)
Sgt Geoffrey George Ottley (pilot)
Sgt Leonard Charles Muston (navigator)
Sgt John Simpson Todd (air bomber)
Sgt Cadfan Edwards (wireless operator)
Sgt Brace Harry Parker (rear gunner)
Edwin Williams, a sergeant in the Moelfre Platoon of the Home Guard, was buried with his wife in a military funeral at Llansilin on 29 January 1943. Two of the crew, Muston and Todd, are buried in the Oswestry General Cemetery. The other are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial despite crashing on land, and their bodies may have burned in the fire.
Fifty years later, on 26 January 1993, the Vicar of Llansilin dedicated a plaque at Bwlch-y-rhiw to all who lost their lives in the accident.
Sources:
https://www.airfieldresearchgroup.org.uk/forum/montgomeryshire-memorials/9143-wellington-r1491
http://www.militarian.com/threads/bwlch-y-rhiw-farmhouse-1943.4739/
http://www.sloansemester.org/lledrod/bwlch-y-rhiw_farm
"Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses, volume 7: Operational Training Units 1940-1947", by W R Chorley, ISBN 1-85780-132-6
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=52.299976&lon=-3.983402&z=13&m=b
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-Jan-2013 06:27 | harro | Added |
| 02-Jan-2013 06:27 | Anon. | Updated [Source] |
| 02-Jan-2013 06:28 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative] |
| 02-Jan-2013 06:28 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative] |
| 02-Oct-2013 04:40 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 27-Apr-2015 20:08 | Giggatson | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator] |
| 29-Apr-2015 10:45 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Operator] |
| 08-May-2015 18:57 | Giggatson | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport] |
| 26-Jan-2017 12:53 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 17-Aug-2018 06:11 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
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