ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 27996
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Monday 8 November 1943 |
| Time: | 20:30 LT |
| Type: |  Avro Anson |
| Owner/operator: | 3 (O) AFU RAF |
| Registration: | N9855 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Pen Yr Ole Wen, East of Cwm Ffynnon Lloer, Snowdonia, North Wales -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Halfpenny Green, Staffordshire |
| RAF Halfpenny Green, Staffordshire |
There were five crew members all of which lost their lives. The aircraft crashed into the mountain and caught fire, then dropped onto the plateau below beside the lake.
Avro Anson N9855 of No.3 (Observer) Advanced Flying Unit, based at RAF Halfpenny Green, which crashed on Pen yr Ole Wen, 8th November 1943, killing all on board.
The aircraft and crew were stationed at RAF Halfpenny Green to the south west of Wolverhampton. During the evening of the 8th November 1943 to crew of five took off for a night navigation exercise. The route was to have covered approx. 320 miles passing over of close to the following points Base - Rhyl - Conwy - Douglas - Maughold Head - Chetton - Base. A short way into the flight the crew received a QDM from RAF Tilstock of 050 degrees with the location of the aircraft being assumed to be in the area of 4 miles NW of Shawbury roughly on course for Rhyl. It was next plotted by the Royal Observer Corps on a route that appeared to be a direct track from Wrexham to Conwy.
A direct track from the Wrexham area to Conwy would not normally have taken an aircraft into Snowdonia, but on the night there was a 15 mph wind blowing from west north west which the Court of Inquiry remarked on as "if correction for drift was not taken the aircraft would drift south of the second turning point"
At around 20:30 the ROC observed a fire near Carnedd Dafydd, shortly before this the aircraft while flying in a north westerly direction had impacted the upper slopes of Pen yr Ole Wen. The aircraft's engines had been torn off and rolled almost 1000 feet down the mountain and the fuel tanks had ruptured with their contents igniting. The fuselage was destroyed but was not burnt by the fire.
Crew:
Sgt. Ernest Andrew Hoagg (RCAF Pilot)
Sgt. John Hedgley Lewis (RAAF Navigator)
Sgt. William Gavin (RAF Bomb Aimer)
Sgt. Leslie John Hill (RAF Wireless Operator / Air Gunner)
Sgt. Douglas John Roberts (RAF Wireless Operator / Air Gunner)
The crew were buried at various locations throughout the UK, the two commonwealth members of the crew were buried at Chester (Blacon) Cemetery.
Sources:
Ministry off Defence, and mountain rescue member, and myself, being the brother of one of the crew.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/56599444@N04/5431941350/
http://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/crash_sites/wales/avro-anson-n9855-pen-yr-ole-wen/
http://web.archive.org/web/20120201194236/http://www.bbc.co.uk:80/wales/northeast/sites/askalocal/pages/wwii3.shtml
http://rafmountainrescue.com/new_site/llandwrog_log/page_14/14.htm
https://www.awm.gov.au//catalogue/research_centre/pdf/rc09125z023_1.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Sep-2008 01:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 28-Jan-2009 07:12 | DAVID HILL | Updated |
| 03-Apr-2012 14:54 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 10-May-2013 01:10 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative] |
| 27-Nov-2018 20:47 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation