Date:	Tuesday 14 November 1939
Time:	11:30 LT
Type:	Bristol Blenheim Mk IF
Owner/operator:	145 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L1286
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Folly Farm, Hagbourne Hill, near RAF Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire
Destination airport:	RAF Croydon, Surrey
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Bristol Blenheim Mk.I L1286, 145 Squadron RAF Harwell: Written off (destroyed) 14/11/39 when lost control in cloud and flew into the ground, near RAF Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire. (At approximate co ordinates 51.5793 N, 1.2849308 W). Aircraft crashed between Folly Farm and Hagbourne Hill while on ferry duties. Pilot - Pilot Officer William Ronald Ross (Service Number 90913, aged 27) killed. According to one published source (see link #5)

"When the war started, on 3 September 1939, 75 and 148 squadrons were the units flying from Harwell. The first burial at Harwell was that of Pilot Officer W. R. Ross (90913) who died on 14 November 1939, aged 27 years. His Bristol Blenheim, L1286, crashed at Blewbury at 11:30 hrs while he was ferrying the Blenheim from 5 Maintenance Unit from Kemble in Gloucestershire to 145 Sqn at Croydon in Surrey and was forced to land at Harwell due to low cloud and very bad visibility. He took off again immediately but crashed on the hills which were in low cloud. The Operational Record Book shows that P/O Ross crashed 1 mile from Harwell and was killed instantly.

Records also indicate that he served with 604 Sqn, and was the son of Lt.Col.Henry and Mrs Betty Ross. His funeral took place on the 17 November 1939".

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley Air Britain, 1978 p 8)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/1657: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16359696
3. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1939a.htm
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2436410/ross,-william-ronald/
5. https://harwellvillage.uk/raf-harwell-war-graves/
6. http://museum.uffington.net/resources/jimjones/docs/RAF_Harwell_history.pdf
7. https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/hagbourne-hill-south-oxfordshire
8. 145 Squadron RAF ORB (Air Ministry Form 540) 01 October 1939-31 May 1940: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8388950
9. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/64698007/william-ronald-ross
10. http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Surrey/GodalmingCharthouseSchoolWW2.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
26-Apr-2018 20:33	Dr. John Smith	Added
24-Jun-2019 22:59	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]