Date:	Saturday 10 February 1945
Time:	15:50 LT
Type:	Avro Lancaster Mk I
Owner/operator:	460 Sqn RAAF
Registration:	PB812
MSN:	AR-Y
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Love Lane, Caythorpe, Lincolnshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:	RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire

Narrative:
Avro Lancaster B Mk I PB812/AR-Y, 460 Squadron RAAF: Written off (destroyed) 10 February 1945 when dived into the ground on a NAVEX (Navigation Exercise). Possibly control lost in cloud. Dived into the ground at 15:50 hrs at Caythorpe, some 8 miles North North-East of Grantham and near Love Lane, on the main road leading northwards towards Lincoln. All six crew on board killed (no survivors)

According to one source (see link #4)

On Saturday, 10 February 1945, 460 Squadron had no operations and Lancaster PB812 undertook a triangular navigational exercise flight with 2 legs southward from Binbrook in Lincolnshire and the third leg north back towards the base.

Coming back on the 3rd and last leg north, the plane crashed catastrophically at 3:45pm next to the old Caythorpe railway station and just east of Caythorpe village. A pilot who had just taken off from Cranwell said he saw the aircraft dive almost vertically towards the west with flames and smoke coming from both wings. The plane hit the ground with all engines running and all six on-board were killed. The met report stated that the weather was rainy with strong winds, and a cloud base of 2000-2500 feet. The six were buried in the RAF cemetery at Cambridge on 15 February 1945.

The crew comprised F/Sgt R (Dick) Miller (pilot), F/O Jeff Downing (navigator), F/Sgt Rhod Pope (wireless operator), F/Sgt Graeme Dockery (air gunner), F/Sgt Anthony (Tony) Robinson (air gunner) (all being RAAF) and F/Sgt Freddie Nesbit-Bell (flight engineer) RAF.

Missing from the crew that day was the bomb aimer, F/Sgt Arnold (George) Kloeden RAAF. He had been sick in hospital and was discharged on the 10th February but arrived at the airfield a few minutes too late to board the plane. George died in 2003.

In the only extracts from the Court inquiry, the Court concluded that:

• The aircraft was on fire before it hit the ground, based on the testimony of a warrant officer from Signals Squadron No 1 Radio School Cranwell who was the other pilot flying at the time,
• While the Court didn’t come to any definite conclusion regarding the cause of the crash, it referred to an earlier report by a previous pilot of PB 812 that the automatic pilot had caused the plane to go into a sudden and violent vertical dive which the pilot was able to correct,
• Relevantly, the previous pilot confirmed that the auto pilot had been repaired and had given no trouble for a further 4 flights,
• Although the Court found that there was insufficient evidence to blame an unserviceable autopilot, it found the pilot should have been able to disengage a malfunctioning autopilot, as had been done on previous occasions in other planes. Interestingly, the Court recommended training in automatic pilots at Heavy Conversion Units should be encouraged to the “maximum degree”.

Remarkably some pieces of Lancaster PB812 were excavated in the 1970s by the Lincolnshire Aircraft Recovery Group and are held at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre at RAF East Kirby.

The Court’s conclusions are puzzling, being at variance with the testimony of an eyewitness to the accident, who is still alive. This witness was only recently located following an article on the crash in a local newspaper in February of this year. The writer has spoken to the eyewitness who was 17 at the time and who was in the presence of 2 friends of similar age. These persons were waiting for a bus when they saw PB 812 diving vertically. They fully expected the plane to come out of the dive, as they had witnessed such manoeuvres several times before. They were shocked to see the plane crash into the ground, and are adamant it was not on fire. The eyewitness also noted that there was no rain and no winds to speak of with very few clouds".

Crew of Lancaster PB812;
Flight Sergeant Graeme Mark DOCKERY (430736) Air Gunner
Flying Officer Jeffrey John DOWNING (418648) Navigator
Pilot Officer Richard Albert George MILLER (429723) Pilot
Flight Sergeant Frederick Albert Cecil NESBIT-BELL (1587443) Flight Engineer
Flight Sergeant Rhodric Leslie POPE (437951) Wireless Op
Flight Sergeant Anthony Gatward ROBINSON (435913) Air Gunner

All six are buried in Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom. In September 2016, a memorial stone was erected at Love Lane, Caythorpe (close to the crash site) which states "In memory of the valour and sacrifice of the last crew of Lancaster PB812, AR-Y 460 squadron RAAF which crashed near the old Caythorpe Railway Station at 15:50 on 10th February 1945 with the loss of all on board"

Caythorpe is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A607, approximately 3 miles (5 km) south from Leadenham and 9 miles (14 km) north from Grantham. Caythorpe Heath stretches east of the village to Ermine Street and Byard's Leap.

1. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
2. Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the second World war 1945 Page 74.
3. The Lancaster File (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985)
4. https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/144830-memorial-to-crew-of-lancaster-pb812
5. 460 Squadron Operational Record Book (Record of Events for the period 1 to 28 February 1945): National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/1910/3 at: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8405778
6. Aircraft Accident Record Card (Air Ministry Form AM.1180): https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-1180/Lancaster/1945/February/1.html
7. Aircraft Movement Card (Air Ministry Form AM.78): https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-78s/Lancaster/
8. https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/252907/
9. https://gordonstooke.com/460squadron/aircraft_record.htm
10. https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/144830-memorial-to-crew-of-lancaster-pb812
11. https://internationalbcc.co.uk/about-ibcc/news/lancaster-pb812-ar-y/
12. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2651048/graeme-mark-dockery/
13. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2651051/jeffrey-john-downing/
14. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2651372/richard-albert-george-miller/
15. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2651402/frederick-albert-cecil-nesbit-bell/
16. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2651462/rhodric-leslie-pope/
17. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2651506/anthony-gatward-robinson/
18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._460_Squadron_RAAF#World_War_II
19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Binbrook#Bombers
20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caythorpe,_Lincolnshire

Memorials to the crew of Avro Lancaster PB812/AR-Y of 460 Squadron RAAF Lancaster PB812 © Charles J Anderson (WMR-91362) Crew of Lancaster PB812 plaque © Colin Murray (WMR-84934)

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Aug-2013 02:20	JINX	Added
06-Nov-2013 10:07	Anon.	Updated [Location, ]
04-Jun-2015 07:59	INV	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, ]
26-May-2016 06:15	Red Dragon	Updated [Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]
27-Jan-2025 18:13	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category, ]