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| Date: | Friday 11 August 1944 |
| Time: | 09:10 |
| Type: | Miles Martinet TT Mk 1 |
| Owner/operator: | 587 AAC Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | NR614 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Mynydd Drumau, near Llanshamlet, Dyffryn Clydach, Wales -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Pengam Moors |
| Return. |
This aircraft was assigned to the 587 Squadron. The aircraft flew into Drummau Mountain (Mynydd Drumau) near Llanshamlet, Dyffryn Clydachn, in fog on 11th August 1944. Pilot W.O.Rees, originally from the Pontardawe area, was killed.
Pilot:
W/O (1316990) John Adrian Prytherch REES RAF - Killed.
Mynydd Drumau (meaning "Mountain of the Ridges" in English) is a mountain in south Wales lying on the border between Swansea and the county of Neath Port Talbot. It is 272 metres/892 feet high, and is located at approximate co ordinates: 51.68514°N 3.84574°W
Details:
No. 587 Squadron RAF was an anti-aircraft co-operation squadron of the Royal Air Force from 1943 to 1946.
The squadron was formed at RAF Weston Zoyland on the 1st of December 1943, from1600, 1601 Flt and 1625 Flt for anti-aircraft co-operation duties over Wales and the southeast of England. It operated a variety of aircraft. By June 1944 it was part of No.70 Grp RAF, Air Defence of Great Britain.
Warrant Officer Rees was originally from the Pontardawe area and had just returned from leave. The following I have taken from the squadron records, make of it what you will, did he say to his parent that he was going to be stationed in Wales and he would fly over some time?
587 Squadron Records. (AIR 27/2055/3)
“Culmhead Som; 2 Aug. 1316990 W/O J.A.P. Rees proceeds on leave…………
8 Aug. 1316990 W/O J.A.P. Rees-pilot-returns from leave today…………
11 Aug. 1316990 W/O J.A.P. Rees-pilot-involved in a fatal accident to Martinet NR614 which crashed into Drummau Mountain, near Swansea at 09:10hrs today in poor visibility.
15 Aug. The funeral of W/O J.A.P. Rees-pilot-was conducted today at 16:00hrs from his home at Clydach, near Swansea. F/Lt G.F. Lincoln
& F/Sgt P. Smyth-pilots-of the Cardiff detachment attended, also F/Lt Lyshon, a friend of the family.”
As you can see, in the text, there was poor visibility which would suggest the locals could only hear an aircraft which could have only been circling! But what is known is during the early morning of the 11th, he was returning to RAF Pengam Moors (Cardiff) after conducting a cross-country navigational exercise and probably intended to do a fly past of his parent’s home, but the ground below was covered in light fog with patchy visibility when he collided with the western fringe of the Drummau. In any case a waste of life due to the common reason for most of the training crashes, bad visibility!
Crew:
W/O John Adrian Prytherch Rees 22yo 1316990 RAFVR. Pilot. Killed.
Son of Emlyn and Bertha Mabel Rees, of Clydach, Swansea.
Buried:
Coed Gwilym Cemetery. Section I. Grave 1003.
Wreckage:
All removed.
Memorials:
Old Clydach Grammer school wooden tablet now to be seen in Pontardawe Library, commemorating the 22 pupils from the area who lost their lives in the war serving with all three branches and as civilians. There is also a memorial book with photographs of the pupils. Of which over half served with the Royal Air Force. (The school has since been demolished.) “Years in school, 1934-1939. RAF Warrant Officer. Pilot 3 years. British and American wings. Died in Drumma Mountain aged 22” N.B. The spelling of Drumau and ‘British and American Wings’?
War memorial outside Clydach hospital.
CWGC memorial.
Additional Information:
Adrian Rees was born on the 12th of May 1922 of Coed Gwilyn Farm, Clydach. It is said, locals on the ground saw the aircraft conducting what they thought was aerobatics before the crash. As you can see in the image I’ve included of the squadron records, there is no mention of this as is the case of the accident record FM1180.
Sources:
1. Doylerush, E, 2008, Rocks in the Clouds: High Ground Aircraft Crashes in South Wales, p.108
2. http://www.ggat.org.uk/timeline/pdf/Military%20Aircraft%20Crash%20in%20Southeast%20Wales.pdf
3. http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Glamorgan/PontardaweGrammarSchool.html
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2717178/rees,-john-adrian-prytherch/
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mynydd_Drumau
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._587_Squadron_RAF
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Culmhead
www.rafcommands.com
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
www.findagrave.org
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-May-2019 20:19 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 18-May-2019 12:13 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator, ] |
| 24-Sep-2019 19:28 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 13-Jun-2021 08:46 | Digger | Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Source, Narrative, Operator, ] |
| 01-Mar-2024 07:30 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 20-Jul-2024 09:49 | Davies 62 | Updated [Time, Operator, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
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