Date:	Friday 25 May 1945
Time:	13:10 LT
Type:	Avro Lancaster Mk I
Owner/operator:	1653 HCU (Heavy Conversion Unit) RAF
Registration:	PD432
MSN:	UM-E2
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 7
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Ferry Road, Bardney Causeway, Southrey, Lincolnshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Lindholme, South Yorkshire
Destination airport:	RAF Bardney, Lincolnshire

Narrative:
Avro Lancaster B. Mk. I PD432/UM-E2, 1653 HCU, RAF. Written off (destroyed) 25 May 1945. The aircraft was airborne on a practice formation flight. The starboard outer engine caught fire after overshooting on approach to RAF Bardney, Lincolnshire and could not be extinguished.

All of the crew bailed out successfully, leaving Lancaster PD432 to crash near Ferry Road, Bardney Causeway, Southrey, Lincolnshire, England at 13:10 hrs local time. No injuries were reported to the pilot (Flight Sergeant F A L Howes) and his crew - although it was reproted that the bomb aimer had to be rescued from a tree near Southrey, after his parachute became entangled in its branches.

Pilot: Flight Sergeant S A L Howes RAF (bailed out successfully, uninjured)

There is a significant ground fan-shaped discolouration at GPS 53.182252 N, 0.291809 W, suggesting that the aircraft struck the ground on the eastern edge of the field and crashed in a flat trajectory towards the Riverside Inn, off Ferry Road.

RAF Bardney is a former Royal Air Force station located 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Bardney, Lincolnshire, England and 10 miles (16 km) east of Lincoln. It was built as a satellite to RAF Waddington in 1943 and the airfield closed in 1963.

Southrey is a village in the civil parish of Bardney in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, and approximately 2 miles (3 kilometres) south-east from Bardney.

1. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
2. Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War 1945.
3. The Lancaster File (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985)
4. 1653 HCU RAF Operational Record Book (Record of events for the period 1 January 1942 to 31 May 1945): National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/612/5 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7160903
5. Aircraft Movement Card (Air Ministry Form AM.78): https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-78s/Lancaster/PD338-PD444/mobile/index.html
6. Aircraft Accident Record Card (Air Ministry Form AM.1180): https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-1180/Lancaster/1945/May/1.html
7. https://www.bcar.org.uk/new1945-incident-logs#may
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conversion_units_of_the_Royal_Air_Force
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Lindholme#Heavy_Conversion_Unit
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Bardney

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Aug-2013 21:40	JINX	Added
08-Nov-2018 06:34	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator, ]
05-Nov-2019 17:10	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator, ]
19-Jul-2023 21:50	Nepa	Updated
15-Jan-2024 15:42	Rob Davis	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]
19-Jan-2025 20:31	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ]
25-Feb-2025 22:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, ]