Date:	Tuesday 3 July 1945
Time:	13:00 LT
Type:	Avro Lancaster Mk I
Owner/operator:	166 Squadron, RAF
Registration:	SW278
MSN:	AS-V
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Bristol Channel, 5 miles NW of Kewstoke Church, off Weston-Super Mare -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Kirmington, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Avro Lancaster B Mk. I SW278/AS-V of 166 Squadron, crashed on a training mission on 3 July 1945. At around 13:00 hours, the aircraft dived vertically into the Bristol Channel, 5 miles north-west of Kewstoke Church (St. Paul's Church), off Weston-Super Mare, Somerset. The Weston-super-Mare lifeboat was promptly launched, but they only recovered the body of the pilot. As the lifeboatmen were unaware that the crashed aircraft was a Lancaster, with a crew of seven, they did not search for the rest of the crew. The crew of seven were:

Pilot Officer George BARLOW (198280) (Pilot): Killed. Commemorated Manchester Southern Cemetery, Manchester, United Kingdom
Sergeant Charles Edward BUTLER (1807758) (Navigator): Killed. Commemorated Tottenham Cemetery, Tottenham, London N17 United Kingdom
Flying Officer James DOYLE (174041): Killed - body not found/not recovered. Commemorated Runnymede Memorial, United Kingdom
Sergeant William Frederick George EDGE (1817983) (Air Gunner): Killed. Commemorated Waterfall (Saints James And Bartholomew) Churchyard, United Kingdom
Sergeant William GIBSON (3007622): Killed - body not found/not recovered. Commemorated Runnymede Memorial, United Kingdom
Flight Sergeant Ainsley Rupert KIRSCHNER (1600924) (2nd Pilot): Killed. Commemorated Portsdown (Christ Church) Military Cemetery, United Kingdom
Flight Sergeant Ronald Joseph SULLIVAN (1336564)(Wireless Op): Killed. Commemorated Hither Green Cemetery, United Kingdom

Five bodies were recovered: four of them after being washed up on the beach at Brean Sands over the next few days. Panels 266 and 275 respectively of the Runnymede Memorial perpetuate the names of F/O Doyle and Sgt Gibson. P/O Barlow, who rests in Manchester Southern Cemetery, had married Ann Barlow of Clontarf, Co.Dublin in the Irish Republic.

Kewstoke is a civil parish and village in Somerset, England, within the unitary authority of North Somerset, located next to the strip of coast called Sand Bay. The Church of St Paul in Kewstoke, Somerset, England dates from the 12th century with the tower being built in 1395. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J. Halley 1985 p.16).
2. The Lancaster File (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p 108).
3. http://www.rafinfo.org.uk/airsearch/names_am.htm
4. https://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/285970-aircraft-wreck-survey-bristol-channel-help-please.html#post3443969
5. https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?55992-Wreckage-in-Bristol-Channel&p=1236692
6. 166 Squadron RAF Operations Record Book (Record of Events for the period 1 June to 30 November 1945): National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/1089/60 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8436959
8. Aircraft Movement Card (Air Ministry Form AM.78): https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-78s/Lancaster/SW243-SW311/mobile/index.html
9. Aircraft Accident Record Card (Air Ministry Form AM.1180): https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-1180/Lancaster/1945/July/1.html
10. https://www.raf166squadron.com/Individuals.htm
11. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-avro-683-lancaster-i-weston-super-mare-7-killed
12. https://www.avro-lancaster.info/swseries/sw278
13. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/103366/
14. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/45391893/charles-edward-butler
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._166_Squadron_RAF#History
16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Church,_Kewstoke

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
26-Dec-2014 23:31	Dr. John Smith	Added
02-Nov-2018 18:11	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator, ]
27-Feb-2025 21:30	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ]
27-Feb-2025 21:32	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]