Blackburn B-26 Botha

Shortly after take off from RAF West Freugh, while climbing, the aircraft stalled, dove into the ground and crashed in a wooded area located near the airport. All five crew members were killed.
Crew (4th AOS):
Sgt Walter Francis Godfrey Hobby, pilot,
LAC Robert Charles Sharp, observer,
AC1 William Charles Ellis, wireless operator and air gunner,
AC2 George William King, wireless operator and air gunner,
LAC Ciaran Anzlony Clarke, air gunner.

The crew was engaged in a training exercise on behalf of the 10th Air Observers School. The airplane was lost without trace and is believed to have crashed somewhere in the North Sea.
Crew:
P/O Mojmir Novak,
P/O Alois Sedlacek,
Sgt L. Mirconzuk.

The airplane departed RAF Valley at 1130LT on a flight to RAF West Freugh, carrying three crew members. During the takeoff run, the pilot-in-command aborted the procedure but was unable to stop the airplane within the available distance. The Botha overran and crashed into the sea about 500 metres off Rhosneigr. All three crew members were killed. It is also reported that 11 rescuers died while they were trying to save the crew.
Crew:
Sgt Kazimierz Stefan Rosiewicz,
LAC Thomas Alexander Dixon,
LAC Freferick Charles Glockler.

On the afternoon of Wednesday 27 August 1941 four 256 Squadron Defiants took off from Squires Gate to practice formation flying. Their flight commander (whose name is unrecorded) was recalled back to the aerodrome, and so he handed his flight over to his No. 2, a Sergeant Leonard (RAF). Just after 3.00 p.m. the three Defiants were flying over the sea, a little West of Blackpool Tower, at an altitude of about 2,000 feet and on a North Easterly heading. Some 500 feet below them, flying in a North Westerly direction, was one of 3 SGR's Bothas, L6509. Eyewitnesses on the ground saw the Defiants break formation and, one by one, dive towards the Botha as if making a mock attack and then level out afterwards. Two of the fighters completed the manoeuvre successfully, but as the third Defiant began its dive the Botha suddenly banked to the right and the pilot of the diving fighter, Defiant N1745, JT-P, struck the Botha amidships, cutting it in two and itself losing a wing. The now tail-less Botha stalled and immediately went into a spiral dive, its descent being watched by hundreds-possibly thousands-of shocked civilians and servicemen on Blackpool's seafront. Seconds later it crashed through the roof of the entrance hall of the Central Station, showering aviation fuel over the platforms below, which erupted into a massive conflagration. A huge cloud of thick black smoke quickly rose to a height of several hundred feet over the center of Blackpool. All three occupants of the Botha and both pilots on board the Defiant were killed. At the station, 8 people on the ground were killed while 6 others died the following days.
Botha's crew (3rd SGR):
P/O A. A. Horne, pilot,
P/O K. J. A. Sale, pilot.
Passenger:
Mr. Frank Longson.
Source & photos: http://laituk.org/Botha-Defiant.htm

The airplane crashed for unknown reasons into the sea some 1,5 km north of Puffin Island. The pilot was killed and two others were rescued.
Crew:
Sgt Thomas Merrill Adlard, pilot,
F/O P. R. D. A. C. MacDonald,
Sgt S. Jones,
AC1 S. G. Sprott,
Sgt N. W. Downs.

The crew was engaged in a training exercise out from the RAF Squires Gate. While cruising along the Isle of Man coast, the airplane suffered an engine failure, entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed into the sea off Port St Mary. All four crew members were killed.
Crew (3rd SGR):
F/O Julien Walter Lowndes Bruxner-Randall, pilot,
P/O Vernon Bramwell Dewhurst, pilot,
P/O Philip Arthur Goode, pilot,
AC2 Frank Mitchell Philp.

The crew departed RAF Millom on a training flight to RAF Detling. En route, the twin engine aircraft went out of control, dove into the ground and crashed in a huge explosion. All four occupants were killed.
Crew (2nd Bombing Gunnery School):
P/O Sidnyey Guy Rodd, pilot,
Sgt Geoffrey Leo Pitman, navigator,
LAC Phillip Leslie Jackson,
AC1 Harold Davenport.

The airplane was on a training sortie when it crashed in unknown circumstances in the Irish Sea off Workington. A crew member was rescued while six others were killed.
Crew:
Sgt Charles Matthew Deyes, wireless operator,
Sgt Roderick Maclean Galbraith, wireless operator,
Sgt Phillip Rutherford,
Sgt William Henry Harper Johnson,
Sgt Charles Ernest Richardson,
AC1 Norman Spriggs,
F/O A M Foster.

The crew was involved in a training mission over the North Sea. While returning to his base at night, the pilot was forced to evacuate the area because of the presence of enemy aircraft. Shortly later, the twin engine aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances into the sea off Redcar. No trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found.
Crew (608th Squadron):
P/O Terence Hugh Creed, pilot,
AC1 Thomas Edward Corrigan,
AC2 George Beadnall.

The pilot Douglas Frank Charles Brecknell was performing a test flight on behalf of the Blackburn manufacturer based in Brough. The accident occurred in unknown circumstances when the airplane crashed in Ellerker, some five km northwest of Brough aerodrome. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot was killed.