ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 159636
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| Date: | Sunday 4 March 1945 |
| Time: | 16:00 |
| Type: |  Avro Lancaster Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 1653 HCU RAF |
| Registration: | PD431 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7 |
| Other fatalities: | 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Edith Weston, near RAF North Luffenham, Rutland, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF North Luffenham, Rutland |
| RAF North Luffenham, Rutland |
1653 HCU Lancaster PD431 H4-V had departed North Luffenham at 1100 on 04/03/45 for a routine Cross-Country training flight. At approx 16:00, it returned to base but bounced hard on its first attempted landing on Runway 36. Power was increased to attempt a go around, however as it climbed away, its undercarriage hit an obstruction (latter discovered to be a van on the airfield)
Seconds later the aircraft clipped trees on the northern boundary of the airfield, then crashed close to the church of St Mary the Virgin in the nearby village of Edith Weston and caught fire. Six of the seven crew were killed in the crash, a seventh died later in RAF Hospital Rauceby near Sleaford - where the driver of the van (Sgt Ratcliffe who was an Air Gunner) was also transferred to. He died from his injuries on 05/03/45 The memorial plaque was dedicated at 16:00 hrs on 04/03/16, and is located 100 yards west of the crah site on the wall of the church of St, Marty the Virgin. All 7 crew on board killed:
F/O B.W. Drake (55096) Lutterworth (St. Mary) Church, Leicstershire.
Sgt. D.W. Gilbert (627389) Kirby Muxloe Church, Leicstershire.
Sgt. J. Thompson (3040793) Sunderland (Mere Knolls) Cemetary, County Durham
F/Sgt. W.H. Ford (1535240)
W/O D. C. McLellan (Aus.424442)
F/Sgt. T.G. Truscott (Aus.428001)
F/Sgt. I.B. Yorkston (Aus.429072)
All buried in Cambridge City Cemetery, except where noted. Edith Weston is not a person, but a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. It is on the south-eastern shore of Rutland Water
Sources:
1. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
2. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/04449.php
3. http://aircrewremembered.com/truskett-terence-george.html
4. https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/264770/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2719276/BERNARD%20WILLIAM%20DRAKE/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2718895/DENNIS%20WILLIAM%20GILBERT/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2696951/JAMES%20THOMPSON/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2651097/WILLIAM%20HENRY%20FORD/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2651333/DONALD%20CAMPBELL%20McLELLAN/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2651610/TERENCE%20GEORGE%20TRUSKETT/
11. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2651692/IAN%20BAILEY%20YORKSTON/
Media:
Avro Lancaster PD431 © Colin Murray (WMR-93686)
Avro Lancaster PD431 © Colin Murray (WMR-93686) Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 29-Aug-2013 21:39 | JINX | Added |
| 28-Dec-2014 08:23 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 28-Dec-2014 08:24 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 21-Oct-2018 07:01 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative] |
| 08-Nov-2018 06:34 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 05-Nov-2019 17:11 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 21-Mar-2020 14:58 | Anon. | Updated [Source] |
| 24-Jul-2021 19:59 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category] |
| 26-Jul-2021 17:34 | ET44 | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Operator] |
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