ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 21475
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| Date: | Thursday 23 March 1944 |
| Time: | 21:05 |
| Type: |  Vickers Wellington Mk X |
| Owner/operator: | 17 OTU RAF |
| Registration: | HE688 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Little Beech Hill, west of Osmotherley, North Yorkshire, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Silverstone, Northamptonshire |
On 23rd March 1944 this Wellington HE688 took off at 19:15 hrs from Silverstone airfield, near Towcester, in Northamptonshire, for an evening cross country training exercise. Whilst over the Northallerton area of North Yorkshire control of the aircraft was lost after the port engine failed, and the aircraft went into a dive.
While trying the pull the aircraft out of the dive it began to break up and crashed into the ground at a near vertical angle at 21:05 hours near Little Beech Hill, west of Osmotherley and all six airmen on board were killed. The three Commonwealth airmen were buried at Harrogate with RAF Leeming's Padre officiating.
Crew:
Pilot - F/O Edward Nigel Jeffreys Thomson (NZ416552) RNZAF
Navigator - F/Sgt Bertram James Jones (Aus.424299) RAAF
Air Gunner - Sgt David Lancaster Watson (Aus.430076) RAAF
Wireles Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Ernest Percy Moore (1586101) RAFVR
Air Gunner - Sgt Dennis Gwylin Stephens (3011102) RAFVR
Air Gunner - Sgt Benjamin Woodhead (1685947) RAFVR
Note: A detailed account of the accident was submitted by Headquaters RNZAF London to the Air Department in Wellington on 31 August 1944, paragraph B of the report giving details of the sequence of the structural failure as the Wellington plunged, almost vertically, from the sky. The report times the accident as approximately 2105, but in the letter, dated 5 April 1944, written to the pilot’s mother by the Officer Commanding RAF Silverstone, the crash is said to have occurred “at 11 o’clock” (presumably 11 pm - two hours later).
Sources:
1. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?15971-440323-Unaccounted-Airmen-23-3-1944
2. http://web.archive.org/web/20150105023251/http://garfybarnard.wix.com:80/aviationresearch
3. http://adf-serials.com.au/nz-serials/nzwellington.htm
4. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/he688.html]
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 26-Jun-2008 01:23 | JINX | Added |
| 26-Feb-2012 05:44 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source] |
| 21-Aug-2013 09:19 | JINX | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Departure airport, Source] |
| 08-Jan-2015 02:40 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 27-Apr-2015 20:43 | Victor I | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
| 10-May-2015 05:52 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Operator, Nature, Narrative] |
| 10-May-2015 10:47 | Angel dot comma | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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