Date:	Sunday 11 March 1945
Time:	13:10
Type:	Avro Lancaster Mk III
Owner/operator:	Pathfinder Force Navigation Training Unit
Registration:	PB669
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 8
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Old Weston, near Molesworth, Huntingdonshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Warboys, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Avro Lancaster B Mk. III PB669, Pathfinder Force Navigation Training Unit. Destroyed 11 March 1945: Took off at 10.40 hours on 11 March 1945 from RAF Warboys, Cambridgeshire on a training flight. At 1310hrs PB669 nose dived with full power between Spaldwick and Molesworth, approximately 12.5 miles south west of Warboys. All crew were killed. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the aircraft turn to port over Northamptonshire and then the nose dipped and the aircraft failed to recover.

All eight crew on board were killed, and it is notable that six of them were from 156 Squadron, RAF, and that Lancaster PB669 carried two navigators

Crew of Lancaster PB669
Flight Lieutenant Bernard Chapman BROOKER (172486) Navigator (156 Squadron, RAF): Commemorated Peterborough (Eastfield) Cemetery, United Kingdom
Flight Lieutenant Arthur Colin DIEMER (131121) Pilot (156 Squadron, RAF): Commemorated Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (West Road) Crematorium, United Kingdom
Flight Sergeant Dennis William KIDD (1807467) Air Gunner (Pathfinder Force Navigation Training Unit): Commemorated Bexleyheath Cemetery, United Kingdom
Warrant Air Officer (Air Gunner) Stanley OLDFIELD (650144) Air Gunner (Pathfinder Force Navigation Training Unit): Commemorated Southampton (Hollybrook) Cemetery, United Kingdom
Flying Officer Kenneth Laurence PILE (183091) Flight Enginer (156 Squadron, RAF): Commemorated Mitcham (London Road) Cemetery, United Kingdom
Flight Lieutenant John ROBERTSON (139238) Observer (156 Squadron RAF): Commemorated Woodhall Spa Cemetery, United Kingdom
Flying Officer Clifford Allan ROBSON (52699) Wireless Op (156 Squadron, RAF): Commemorated Hampreston (All Saints) Churchyard, United Kingdom
Flight Lieutenant Alastair Mackichan STEWART (122098) Navigator (156 Squadron, RAF): Commemorated Greenock Cemetery, United Kingdom

The cause of the crash was never determined. The wreck was excavated in 1994.

1. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
2. Bomber Command Losses by W R CHORLEY, volume 8, page 230.
3. The Lancaster File (James J Halley, Air Britain 1985).
4. Bomber Command Losses 1945 V6 by W R Chorley.
5. 156 Sqaudron Squadron RAF Operational Record Book (Record of Events for the period 1 to 31 March 1945): National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/1043/6 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8389973
6. Aircraft Movement Card (Air Ministry Form AM.78):
7. Aircraft Accident Record Card (Air Ministry Form AM.1180): https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-1180/Lancaster/1945/March/prt1/2.html
8. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/125531466/stanley-oldfield
9. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/60093700/kenneth-laurence-pile
10. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=12055
11. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=20671.0
12. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=20718.0
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Weston
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._156_Squadron_RAF#Reformation_in_World_War_II
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Warboys#Second_World_War

A 22,000-lb MC deep-penetration bomb (Bomber Command executive codeword 'Grand Slam') released from Avro Lancaster B Mark I (Special), PB669 'YZ-C', of No. 617 Squadron RAF, explodes on its target, the railway viaduct at Arnsberg, Germany ROYAL AIR FORCE BOMBER COMMAND, 1942-1945. Image: IWM (CH 15378)

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-Aug-2013 16:45	JINX	Added
01-Nov-2019 20:05	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Phase, Operator, ]
13-Feb-2025 19:35	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category, ]
21-Apr-2025 11:07	MMR	Updated [Narrative, ]