Crash of a Consolidated LB-30 Liberator II in RAF Marston Moor: 10 killed
Date & Time:
Aug 5, 1942 at 1715 LT
Operator:
Registration:
AL588
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Marston Moor - Marston Moor
MSN:
086
Crew on board:
10
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
10
Circumstances:
The crew was engaged in an air gunnery training exercise with a RAF Spitfire. Shortly after take off from RAF Marston Moor, while climbing, the captain made a sharp turn when he lost control of the aircraft that dove into the ground and crashed in a huge explosion in a field located few hundred yards from the airbase. All ten crew members were killed.
Crew (1653 HCU):
F/Sgt Bryn Williams, pilot,
Sgt Alan Francis Bell, pilot,
P/O Thomas Henry Jones, air gunner,
Sgt Wilfred Anthony Kup, observer,
Sgt Edward Thorley, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt Sidney Sampson, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt Edward Albert Smith, air gunner,
Sgt Kenneth Caselton, air gunner,
Sgt William Henry Charles Booth, air gunner.
Sgt Douglas Arnold Wood.
Crew (1653 HCU):
F/Sgt Bryn Williams, pilot,
Sgt Alan Francis Bell, pilot,
P/O Thomas Henry Jones, air gunner,
Sgt Wilfred Anthony Kup, observer,
Sgt Edward Thorley, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt Sidney Sampson, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt Edward Albert Smith, air gunner,
Sgt Kenneth Caselton, air gunner,
Sgt William Henry Charles Booth, air gunner.
Sgt Douglas Arnold Wood.
Probable cause:
Loss of control in initial climb caused by the failure of the tail section, maybe due to a structural problem.
