Date:	Wednesday 17 January 1945
Time:	04:20 LT
Type:	Avro Lancaster Mk I
Owner/operator:	75 (NZ) Squadron RAF
Registration:	PB761
MSN:	AA-Y
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 7
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Woodditton, Suffolk -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Mepal, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:	RAF Mepal, Cambridgeshire

Narrative:
Avro Lancaster B. Mk. I PB761/AA-Y of 75 (NZ) Squadron: Written off (destroyed) 17 January 1945 when flew into ground on return from mission to Wanne-Eickel.

Mission: Wanne-Kickel. Took off from RAF Mepal, Cambridgeshire at 23:30 hrs to attack a Benzol plant. Crashed 04:20 hrs while returning to base, coming down near Wooditton, Suffolk, 13 miles East of Cambridge. Three of the crew of seven died - two of them in the initial crash, and one who died later of injuries sustained.

Crew:
Pilot: Flight Lieutenant Terence Douglas Blewett RNZAF NZ/414376 [Killed]
Flight Engineer: Sergeant R H Hunswicks RAF [Injured]
Navigator: Flight Sergeant Bryant Thomas Cornell RAFVR 1398282 [Fatal Injury]
Bomb Aimer: Flying Officer John Stanley Wilson RNZAF NZ/426234 [Killed]
Wireless Operator: Warrant Officer J Smyrk RAF [Injured]
Mid-Upper Gunner: Sergeant W H Pridmore RAF [Injured]
Rear Gunner: Sergeant K Hollins RAF [Injured]

Both New Zealanders are buried in Cambridge City Cemetery. Flt Sgt Cornell was critically injured and he died on 18 January, his grave is in Southgate Cemetery.

Woodditton is a village and civil parish in East Cambridgeshire, England. The other settlements in the parish are Ditton Green, Little Ditton and Saxon Street. Woodditton lies at the southeastern end of the Devil's Dyke, a defensive earthwork thought to be of Anglo-Saxon origin.

Brief history of Lancaster PB761
Built by A V Roe & Co at Woodford, Cheshire to Contract Acft/1807
10-11-1944: Delivered to the RAF at 75 (NZ) Squadron as RAF Mepal, Cambridgeshire as 'AA-Y'
17-01-1945; Destroyed in operational service at Woodditon, Suffolk as per the above
25-01-1945: Struck off charge as Cat. E(FA)

1. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999.
2. Royal Air Force Bomber Command losses of the Second World War 1945 Page 49.
3. The Lancaster File (James J. Halley, Air Britain 1985).
4. Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database.
5. 75 Squadron Operational Record Book (Record of Events for the period 1 to 31 January 1945): National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/648/2 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8453926
6. Aircraft Movement Card (Air Ministry Form AM.78): https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-78s/Lancaster/PB737-PB837/mobile/index.html
7. Aircraft Accident Record Card (Air Ministry Form AM.1180): https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-1180/Lancaster/1945/January/prt2/2.html
8. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2650921/terence-douglas-blewett/
9. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2432778/bryant-thomas-cornell/
10. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2651675/john-stanley-wilson/
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._75_Squadron_RAF
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodditton

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Aug-2013 01:52	JINX	Added
29-Aug-2013 01:53	JINX	Updated [Aircraft type, ]
19-May-2016 17:51	Red Dragon	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]
10-Jan-2018 15:51	angels one five	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative, ]
27-Oct-2018 19:41	Nepa	Updated [Time, Operator, Operator, ]
16-Jan-2024 07:52	Rob Davis	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]
30-Jan-2025 22:13	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ]
06-Feb-2025 19:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]