Royal Air Force - RAF

Survey / Patrol / Reconnaissance

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Schedule:

Prestwick - Prestwick

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En route, an engine failed, forcing the crew to ditch the aircraft off Girvan. The radio operator sunk with the aircraft and drowned. All three other occupants took refuge in a dinghy and were rescued three hours later.

Probable cause:

Engine failure.

Crash of a Douglas DC-2-120 in Kolar

Date & Time: Jun 14, 1942

Type of aircraft:

Douglas DC-2

Operator:

Registration:

DG473

Flight Phase:

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Survivors:

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MSN:

1308

YOM:

1934

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Circumstances:

En route, the captain was forced to attempt an emergency landing for unknown reason. While landing in a field near Kolar, some 60 miles east of Bangalore, the aircraft lost its undercarriage and ended up in flames. While there was no casualties, the aircraft was destroyed by fire.

Crash of a Short S.25 Sunderland I into the Atlantic Ocean: 9 killed

Date & Time: Jun 11, 1942

Type of aircraft:

Short S.25 Sunderland

Operator:

Registration:

L5805

Flight Phase:

Survey / Patrol / Reconnaissance

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

Bathurst - Freetown

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The aircraft left Bathurst at 2255LT on June 10 on a maritime patrol flight to Freetown, Sierra Leone. As the aircraft failed to arrive, SAR operations were conducted but no trace of the seaplane was ever found.
Crew (95th Squadron):
P/O J. Pybus,
F/O J. M. Henderson,
F/O R. W. Lawrence,
P/O D. J. Whalley,
Sgt V. Cromer,
Sgt J. E. Burley,
Sgt R. G. Greenman,
LAC J. M. McNeill,
AC1 H. K. McCombie.

Crash of a Lockheed L-414 Hudson in RAF Silloth: 2 killed

Date & Time: Jun 9, 1942

Type of aircraft:

Lockheed L-414 Hudson

Operator:

Registration:

N7307

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Training

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Silloth - Silloth

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Shortly after take off from RAF Silloth, while in initial climb, the aircraft stalled and crashed in a huge explosion. Both crewmen were killed.
Crew (1st OTU):
Donald William Shirley,
Ernest Alfred Jefferson.

Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II in Welsh Bicknor: 11 killed

Date & Time: Jun 7, 1942

Type of aircraft:

Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II

Operator:

Registration:

V9977

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Test

Survivors:

Site:

Plain, Valley

Schedule:

Defford - Defford

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Circumstances:

The aircraft was involved in a test flight on behalf of the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) of the Royal Air Force and left RAF Defford in the day with a crew of five and six engineers on board. En route, the engine number four caught fire. The captain attempted an emergency landing when at an altitude of 500 feet, a portion of the right wing broke away. Out of control, the aircraft crashed in a field at a speed of 150 mp/h and was destroyed. All 11 occupants were killed, among them the famous British engineer Alan Blumlein. His death was officially announced three years later as the mission was highly secret: test and development of the H2S airborne radar system.
Crew:
P/O D. J. D.Berrington, pilot,
F/O A. M. Phillips, pilot,
F/Sgt G. Millar, observer,
LAC B. D. C. Dear, flight engineer,
AC2 B. C. F. Bicknell, wireless operator and air gunner.
Passengers:
S/L R. J. Sansom, attached to TRE,
P/O C. E. Vincent, attached to TRE,
Mr. G. S. Hensby, engineer by TRE,
Mr. A. D. Blumlein, engineer by EMI,
Mr. C. O. Browne, engineer by EMI,
Mr. F. Blythen, engineer by EMI.

Probable cause:

After the RAF investigative board completed its report on the Halifax crash on 1 July 1942, it was distributed to a restricted list of approved recipients, but not publicly divulged. In the interests of wartime secrecy, the announcement of Blumlein's death was not made for another three years. The investigative board, headed by AIB Chief Inspector Vernon Brown (who later also investigated the postwar Star Tiger and Star Ariel disappearances) found that the Halifax bomber crash was caused by engine fire, attributed to the unscrewing of a tappet nut on the starboard outer engine, which had been improperly tightened by a RAF engine fitter while inspecting the engine some three hours prior to the crash. The loosened nut caused excessive valve clearance and a fracture of the valve stem which resulted pumping ignited fuel outboard of the rocker cover and along the outside of the engine, causing a fire in the engine nacelle. Constantly fueled by the broken intake, the fire burned rapidly along the wing and fuselage, eventually causing a large section of the wing to separate from the fuselage at approximately 350 feet of altitude. With the loss of all control over level flight, the rest of the plane rolled inverted and struck the ground at approximately 150 mph.

Crash of an Avro 679 Manchester I into the North Sea: 7 killed

Date & Time: Jun 7, 1942

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

L7287

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Bombing

Survivors:

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Schedule:

Scampton - Scampton

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The crew was involved in a bombing mission over Emden, Germany. While overflying the North Sea by night, the aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances. No trace of the aircraft nor the crew was ever found.
Crew (49th Squadron):
F/Lt Roger Edward Rawle Paramore, pilot,
Sgt Harold Whittemore, pilot,
P/O Harold Jesse Vincent, observer,
Sgt Hugh Charles Hood, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt Alexander Logie, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt Robert Harold Seaton, air gunner,
Sgt John Howie Pollock, air gunner.

Crash of an Avro 679 Manchester I into the North Sea: 7 killed

Date & Time: Jun 7, 1942

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

L7469

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Bombing

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Scampton - Scampton

Location:

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Circumstances:

The crew was involved in a bombing mission over Emden, Germany. While overflying the North Sea by night, the aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances into the sea. No trace of the aircraft nor the crew was ever found.
Crew (49th Squadron):
S/L Peter Morrice De Mestre, pilot,
Sgt Albert Francois Buttel, pilot,
P/O Ronald Henry James Thorndyke, observer,
Sgt George Clive Whitfield, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt Douglas Stephen Halliday, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt Lewis James Jones, wireless operator and air gunner,
F/Sgt Maxwell Elliott Whitehill, air gunner.

Crash of an Avro 679 Manchester I into the North Sea: 2 killed

Date & Time: Jun 7, 1942

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

L7471

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Bombing

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Schedule:

Skellingthorpe - Skellingthorpe

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The crew left RAF Skellingthorpe at 2316LT on June 6 on a bombing mission to Emden, Germany. While returning to England following an uneventful mission, the crew was forced to ditch the aircraft some 50 miles off Frisian Islands, north of Germany. Two crew members were killed while all five other occupants were rescued. The aircraft was lost. Crew (50th Squadron):
F/O Argyle Donald Beatty, †
Sgt Ronald Garnet Burton, †
P/O F. W. R. Allen,
Sgt R. G. Buchanan,
Sgt A. F. Scanlan,
Sgt A. C. Tebbutt,
Sgt R. F. Davies.

Crash of an Avro 679 Manchester I in Beekbergen: 4 killed

Date & Time: Jun 4, 1942 at 0233 LT

Type of aircraft: