Crash of a Vickers 416 Wellington IC on Mt Geal-Chàrn: 5 killed

Date & Time: Dec 10, 1942 at 1500 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
L7867
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Schedule:
Lossiemouth - Lossiemouth
Region:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
While on a training exercise out from RAF Lossiemouth, the crew encountered poor weather conditions. In limited visibility, the bomber went off course by 60 km when it impacted the slope of Mt Geal-Chàrn located 7,5 km northeast of Corrour. Five crew members were killed and one was badly injured.
Crew (20th OTU):
F/O James William Heck, pilot, †
Sgt Maurice Hutt, bomb aimer, †
Sgt William Ernest Riley, navigator, †
Sgt Joseph Towers, navigator, †
Sgt James Hemmings, wireless operator and air gunner, †
Sgt Philip Edward Underwood, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Controlled flight into terrain.

Crash of a Vickers 416 Wellington IC in Broomhead Moor

Date & Time: Dec 9, 1942
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
DV810
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Schedule:
Edgehill - Edgehill
Region:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
While on a night training exercise, the airplane impacted a hill in Broomhead Moor, northwest of Sheffield. All six occupants were injured and the aircraft was destroyed. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were poor with low clouds, heavy rain falls and strong winds.
Crew (21st OTU):
P/O Stanley Baker, pilot,
F/Sgt Anthony St Clair Turner, pilot,
F/Sgt Donald Norman Dawson, navigator,
Sgt Ronald Douglas Weeks, bomb aimer,
Sgt Alan Gordon Allwright, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Walter Samuel Sinclair, wireless operator and air gunner.
Probable cause:
Controlled flight into terrain.

Crash of a Vickers 416 Wellington IC in Luqa: 4 killed

Date & Time: Dec 7, 1942
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
HF887
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
LG.167 - Luqa
Location:
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
12
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
The airplane departed LG.167, Bi'r al Buhayrah, Libya, on a flight to Luqa, Malta. Upon landing, the airplane went out of control and crashed on a dispersal pen. Four crew members were killed and eight others were injured.
Crew:
Sgt George Bunnett, †
Lac Ernest Ford, †
Sgt Clifford Roy Grandfield, wireless operator, †
F/Sgt John Irving Kitchen, †
P/O G. B. Hunter,
P/O R. A. Mackness,
Sgt H. Barrie,
Sgt G. G. E. Greeves,
Sgt W. Smith,
Lac G. F. Wilson,
Lac L. J. Haywood,
Ac1 W. Brown.

Crash of a Vickers 416 Wellington IC in Gibraltar: 2 killed

Date & Time: Dec 5, 1942 at 2108 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
HD948
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
Shortly after takeoff from Gibraltar-North Front Airport, while climbing to a height of about 100 feet, the airplane suffered an engine failure, lost height and crashed into the sea. Two crew members were killed and three others were rescued.
Crew:
Sgt S. F. Gardner, pilot,
Sgt C. A. Butt,
Sgt Kenneth George Gleave,
Sgt Peter Claude Shipman, †
Sgt Ronald Charles Simmons. †
Probable cause:
Failure of the starboard engine's constant speed unit.

Crash of a Vickers 416 Wellington IC off Deal

Date & Time: Dec 3, 1942 at 0824 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
DV819
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Gransden Lodge - Gransden Lodge
Location:
Region:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane was returning to RAF Gransden Lodge following a Special Wireless Investigation flight with a crew of six on board. Approaching the English coast, the crew was forced to ditch the airplane for unknown reasons about 200 metres from the beach near Deal. All six crew members were rescued, among them four were injured.
Crew:
P/O Edwin Amos Paulton, pilot,
P/O William Alexander Renton Barry, navigator,
P/O Harold Graham Jordan, special equipment operator,
F/Sgt William Walter Bigoray, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Frederick Percy Grant, air gunner,
F/Sgt Everitt Thomas Vachon, air gunner.

Crash of a Vickers 416 Wellington IC near RAF Cottesmore

Date & Time: Dec 2, 1942
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
L7850
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Cottesmore - Cottesmore
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The crew was engaged in a training mission at RAF Cottesmore. While cruising in the vicinity of the airbase, an engine caught fire and the crew attempted an emergency landing when the airplane crash landed in an open field. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and there were no fatalities among the crew from the 4th OTU.
Probable cause:
Engine fire in flight.

Crash of a Vickers 416 Wellington IC at RAF Moreton-in-Marsh: 4 killed

Date & Time: Nov 29, 1942 at 1525 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
LB120
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Harwell - Moreton-in-Marsh
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
The crew departed RAF Harwell on a training exercise to RAF Moreton-in-Marsh. On final approach, the airplane entered a nose up attitude then stalled and crashed near the airfield. Four crew members were killed and one was injured.
Crew:
F/O Allan Thompson, pilot, †
F/O Douglas Young McIntosh, navigator, †
Sgt Cecil Roy Kippen, wireless operator, †
F/O Eric Martin, wireless operator, †
Sgt W. Fowler, air gunner.

Crash of a Vickers 416 Wellington IC off RAF Lossiemouth: 7 killed

Date & Time: Nov 27, 1942 at 0200 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
T2722
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Lossiemouth - Lossiemouth
Region:
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Lossiemouth in the evening of November 26 on a night navigation exercise. The following night, in unknown circumstances, it crashed into the sea east of the airbase. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/Sgt John Christopher Binge, pilot,
Sgt Philip Stanley Sutton, pilot,
Sgt Bernard Lowery, navigator,
P/O John Bluck, bomb aimer,
Sgt Laurence Elgar Harrison, wireless operator,
Sgt Thomas Francis Blythe, air gunner,
Sgt Henry Clasper Ballinger, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Engine failure is suspected.

Crash of a Vickers 416 Wellington IC at RAF Talbenny

Date & Time: Nov 18, 1942 at 0609 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
DV779
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Talbenny - Talbenny
Region:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Talbenny on an anti-submarine patrol mission. After liftoff, while in initial climb, the airplane stalled and crashed in a field located 400 metres past the runway end, bursting into flames. All six crew members escaped unhurt while the airplane was destroyed by fire.
Crew.
F/Lt B. Liska, pilot,
Sgt J. Hadravek, copilot,
P/O Kubin, navigator,
P/O Urizl, wireless operator,
Sgt Veverka, air gunner,
Sgt Jedlicka, air gunner.
Probable cause:
The flap lever was accidentally touched whilst the undercarriage was being retracted, causing the airplane to lose lift, to stall and to crash.

Crash of a Vickers 416 Wellington IC near Fort Capuzzo

Date & Time: Nov 8, 1942
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
DV504
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Schedule:
Al Kibrit - Al Kibrit
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Kibrit on an operation to Tobruk. Approaching the target area, it was shot down by the German Flak. The crew abandoned the airplane that crashed near Fort Capuzzo and was destroyed. All six crew members parachuted to safety, four became PoW and two evaded. They walked more than 550 km through the desert to reach allied lines in Egypt before being picked up by a British patrol between Lake El Maghra and El Alamein.
Crew:
F/Sgt Robert Leslie Spence, pilot,
Sgt K. R. Bowhill, copilot,
Sgt Cameron Clare Hill, navigator,
Sgt Johnny K. Wood, navigator,
Sgt E. A. Linforth, air gunner,
Sgt Arthur William Butterris, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by the German Flak.