Somme

The single engine aircraft departed Toussus-le-Noble Airport in the early morning on a private flight to Fairoaks with two people on board. About 40 minutes into the flight, at an altitude of 18,000 feet, the manifold pressure dropped from 30 to 28 inches of mercury. The pilot increased the engine power when the manifold pressure boosted to 33 inches of mercury then dropped again. Suddenly, a burning smell pervades the cabin. The pilot declared an emergency and elected to divert to Abbeville Airport which was at a distance of 15 NM from his position. While descending, he lowered the landing gear and reduced the engine power. Shortly before reaching FL100, the oil pressure warning light came on, the engine started to vibrate then stopped. At this time, the aircraft was 10 NM from Abbeville Airport, descending in IMC conditions. On short final, at a height of 300 feet, the pilot established a visual contact with the runway but his trajectory was too short. The aircraft crash landed in a field and came to rest 200 metres short of runway 20. Both occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Flight 316 was a scheduled international flight from Beauvais, France to Gatwick, England. It took off from runway 23 at Beauvais at 1948 hours GMT. At 2009 hours it contacted London Airways reporting over Abbeville, with an estimated time of arrival at the Paris/London FIR boundary of 2020 hours. At 2030 hours at the request of London Airways the aircraft reported 2036 as its estimated time of arrival at Lydd, whereas taking the wind into account it should have been 2040 hours. In fact the aircraft reported over Lydd at 2040 hours and, on the basis of the radar observations of London Airport which followed the aircraft from 2036 hours onwards, the aircraft probably flew over this point at 2041 hours or 2042 hours. At 2040 hours the aircraft reported its estimated time of arrival at Mayfield as 2058 hours, a dead reckoning calculation which this time allowed for the wind. At 2040 hours London Airways asked the flight to confirm its estimated time of arrival at Mayfield. It was when the co-pilot began the VHF transmission to reply to this query that he first noticed that his transmitter was not working, then that the No. 2 VHF, the ILS receiver, the radio compasses, the starboard generator and the two inverters had also failed. The aircraft lighting, however, was still working. The pilot-in-command handed over the controls to the co-pilot and went to inspect the main electrical panel. As he did not have the necessary tools, he was unable to remove the main radio fuse in order to inspect it. He checked the circuit breakers on the radio electrical panel and found that they were in the normal position. He also noted that the inverters were no longer working. On returning to his seat he asked the co-pilot to make the same checks. The co-pilot changed some fuses but he also was unable to remove the main fuse which he found was very hot. As he had no means of radio communication or navigation, the pilot-in-command considered that he could not continue on his route to Gatwick without incurring a collision risk and, more particularly, that it would be dangerous for him to try to descend to within visual reference of the ground, in view of the cloud bases of 120 to 200 m in the meteorological forecasts. He therefore decided to turn on to a southerly heading in order to descend below cloud over the sea and then to determine his position by identifying a town on the south coast of England. At 2053 hours, London Radar observed the left-hand turn of approximately 90' made by the aircraft. According to the pilot-in-command, the aircraft maintained a magnetic heading of 2000 for 15 minutes, which corresponds to a true track of 1710. At about 2108 hours the aircraft, which was then about 20 miles from the English coast south of Hastings, went on to an easterly heading and came down to 2 000 ft using the Beauvais QNH (1 012 mbs). After flying for 5 minutes on this heading, the pilot-in-command was still without any visual contact with the ground and he returned to a southerly heading, considering that the cloud base over France would be appreciably higher than over England. He came down to 1 000 ft and finally saw the lights of a ship and then the lights of a town (Le Tréport) which he failed to identify. The aircraft arrived in the vicinity of Le Tréport at 2140 hours. After flying over the town a number of times the crew fired Very lights but saw no response on the ground, although local authorities and members of the aero club went to En-Mers/Le Tréport airport and illuminated the landing strip with car headlights. During this time the pilot-in-command saw a beach lit up by the lights of a promenade and suitably orientated for a landing, taking into account the direction of the wind at the time. The pilot-in-command then decided that unless he could determine his position with certainty and therefore be able to reach Beauvais in absolute safety, it was preferable to attempt an emergency landing on such a beach rather than run the risk of landing, short of fuel, in the open in the French countryside without any visual reference to the ground and with the danger of colliding with some unknown obstruction. After having flown up and down the coast, in an attempt to determine his position, he finally decided to land when the starboard engine showed signs of fuel failure. He immediately switched the starboard engine on to the port main tank, which contained about 20 gallons more than the starboard main tank. He made his last circuit at about 500 ft, with the landing lights on and the undercarriage up, and came in to land on a WSW heading in the area lit up by the promenade lighting, as near as possible to the shore. The landing was relatively soft, although at the end of the run the port wing tip struck a concrete groyne. The accident occurred at 2240 hours GMT. The location of the beach was 50° 04 N 01° 23 E. All 33 occupants were evacuated and five of them were slightly injured.

The crew was returning to his base in RAF Waddington following a NATO exercise to test western defenses at the East/West German border. En route, the engine number three failed and shortly later, the propeller blades were sheared off and hit the engine number four. The crew started an emergency descent of 20,000 feet and decided to divert to Amiens-Glisy Airfield for an emergency landing. Eventually, the airplane crash landed in a field located near Amiens. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair while all eight crew members were unhurt.
Crew (57th Squadron):
Cpt Gus Walker, pilot,
F/Lt Conley, copilot,
F/Sgt Martin, navigator,
Sgt Holt,
Sgt Pringle,
F/Lt Ford,
F/Lt Allison,
F/Lt Stan.

The aircraft was returning to UK with 24 released prisoners of war as part of Operation EXODUS, a task placed on Bomber Command using the heavy bomber force to repatriate prisoners, some of whom had been incarcerated for over 5 years, to UK as quickly as possible. The aircraft crew sent a brief message saying that they were making a forced landing but when the pilot applied full flap, the aircraft went out of control, entering a spin from which it did not recover and it crashed and was destroyed by fire.
Crew (514th Squadron):
F/Lt Donald Beaton, pilot,
F/Sgt Alfred McMurrugh, flight engineer,
F/O Ray Bertram Hilchey, navigator,
F/Sgt John Goodworth Brittain, wireless operator and air gunner,
P/O Robert MacPherson Toms, air gunner,
P/O Orval Clare Evers, air gunner.
Passengers:
Cpt Robert Worsley Wheeler,
Lt Patrick Archibald Tomlin Campbell,
Lt Eric Thomas Theodore Snowden,
Sgt Ronald Arthur Adams,
Cpl Emanuel L. Belshaw,
Cpl Albert George Thompson,
Cpl George William Franks,
Fus Harold Cummings,
Fus Owen Parkin,
Gdm James Arthur Roe,
Gun Alfred James Spencer Crowe,
Gun A. N. Labotske,
Pio W. L. Lindheimer,
Pio Mordhai Maschit,
Pvz Thomas Anderson,
Pvt William Leonard Ball,
Pvt Samuel James Bayston,
Pvt Roland Albert Betton,
Pvt Ronald Ernest Clark,
Pvt Walter Croston,
Pvt Richard Danson,
Pvt Ralph Turnbull,
Pvt Patrick Yates,
Rif Thomas James Edwards.
Source:
http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/18570-the-first-seven-days-of-peace/

Shot down by the German Flak while on a bombing mission and crashed in a field, killing all four crew members.

Took off at 2112LT from RAF Tempsford for an arms supply drop over northern France. While trying to establish a pinpoint between Boulogne and Saint-Pol, the Lancaster was hit by the German Flak and crashed at Terramesnil, 6 km southeast of Doullens. Two crewmen were killed while five others were taken PoW.
Crew (617th Squadron):
W/O G. F. Bull,
Sgt C. C. Wiltshire,
Sgt C. M. Chamberlain,
Sgt J. McL. Stewart, †
F/S N. Batey,
F/S J. H. McWilliams,
F/S D. M. Thorpe. †
Source: W. R. Chorley.

While approaching Abbeville, the four engine aircraft was attacked by several German Fw.190. Engines number three and four were hit and caught fire. The aircraft lost altitude, dove into the ground and crashed in a field, killing all ten occupants.
Crew (68th Squadron):
1st Lt James D. Du Bard Jr., pilot,
2nd Lt Henry B. Kaitala, copilot,
2nd Lt Richard V. Somerville, navigator,
2nd Lt George A. Crawford, bombardier,
Sgt Charles S. Dick, flight engineer,
Sgt William G. Mears, radio operator,
S/Sgt Paul E. Beverly, assistant engineer,
Sgt Anthony F. Rizzo, assistant radio operator,
Sgt Robert F. Lilley, air gunner,
Sgt Donald M. Smith, air gunner.

The airplane departed RAF West Malling at 0002LT on an intruder operation over France. With an engine on fire, it crashed in a field in Cayeux-en-Santerre, killing all three crew members.
Crew:
F/Lt Arthur Jack Love, pilot,
F/Sgt HJarry Ernest Demmar Tilby, observer,
Sgt Malcolm Bunting, air gunner.

The airplane departed RAF Swinderby at 2145LT on August 29 on an operation to Frankfurt. It crashed in unknown circumstances in Abbeville, killing the entire crew.
Crew:
Sgt John Gordon Procter, pilot,
F/Sgt Leonard Cyril Turner, pilot,
Sgt Robert Victor Urpeth, wireless operator,
Sgt Thomas Henry Willis, wireless operator.

The airplane departed RAF Ford at 0040LT on a night intruder mission to north of France. Approaching Amiens, it collided with a German Air Force Heinkel He.111 and crashed near Amiens-Glisy Airport. All three crew members were killed.
Crew:
Sgt Victor Hall Skillen, pilot,
Sgt Franics Hibbs Abbott, observer,
Sgt Romilly Ronald James Nute, air gunner.