ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 159583
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| Date: | Saturday 14 July 1945 |
| Time: | 02:00 |
| Type: |  Avro Lancaster Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 626 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | PD287 |
| MSN: | UM-U2 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Burdale, nr Wharram Percy, 12 mi NW of RAF Driffield, North Yorkshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Wickenby, Lincolnshire |
| RAF Wickenby, Lincolnshire |
On the night of 13th/14th July 1945 crews of a number of Wickenby-based 626 Squadron Lancasters were instructed to undertake a training flight as part of a wider operational exercise and to use turning points after take off, firstly off Mablethorpe, then a point some fifty miles out into the North Sea due east of Mablethorpe, a further point into the North Sea (100 miles due east of Dundee), then returning to the coast at St.Abbs Head (near Berwick) before returning to base at Wickenby.
The flight was to be made at various altitudes ranging from 5,000ft to 20,000ft and when they reached a point 100 miles left to Wickenby they were to inform base and they were to be issued with a time at which they had to land.
Lancaster PD287 (UM-U2 of 626 Squadron) had taken off from Wickenby at 23.44 hours and flew the course as instructed, until they drifted too far inland from St.Abbs Head but corrected the error. When they reached the 100 miles from base point along with a time to land they also received information of a thunder storm combined with possible icing effects on the aircraft would effect their route south over the general area of the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
The crew were informed that they would need to reduce height to fly below these storm clouds. The aircraft flew into the thunderstorm and was subsequently found to have crashed at Burdale, near Wharram Percy, 12 miles North West of RAF Driffield, North Yorkshire at 02:00 hrs. The Lancaster had disintegrated across a field with six of the seven man crew being killed.
The rear gunner survived the crash and he spent five hours laying injured in the field blowing on a whistle to summon help, the whistle blasts were eventually heard by a group of farm workers heading to begin harvest. It was thought that the aircraft may have been struck by lightning prior to the crash but it was thought more likely that a vivid lightning flash had temporarily blinded the pilot which resulted the aircraft striking trees near the crest of a ridge while in level flight and while flying at cruising speed.
Pilot - Flight Sergeant Sydney Philip Bell RAFVR (1389006). Aged 27. Of Wakefield. Buried Wakefield Cemetery, Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
Navigator - Sgt Lawrence William Garfield RAFVR (1815298). Aged 23. Of Warley Woods, Smethwick, Staffordshire. Buried Quinton Cemetery, Warley, Birmingham.
Bomb Aimer - Sgt Henry Jacob Plastow RAFVR (1824870). Aged 20. Of Edinburgh. Buried Piershill Cemetery, Edinburgh.
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner - Sgt Percy John Allsebrook RAFVR (1574022). Aged 21. Of Milton, Southsea. Buried Milton Cemetery, Portsmouth.
Flight Engineer - Sgt Stanley Welsh RAFVR (1597250). Aged 19. of Annfield Plain, Durham. Buried Harelaw Cemetery, Stanley, Durham.
Air Gunner - Sgt Roy Charles Thomas Goldthorpe RAFVR (1893883). Aged 20. Of Welling. Buried Bexleyheath Cemetery, London.
Air Gunner - Sgt John Critchley RAFVR (2204035). Survived.
Sources:
1. http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/yorksother/pd287.html
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
3. The Lancaster File (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985)
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2414310/bell,-sydney-philip/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2711989/garfield,-lawrence-william/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2452124/plastow,-henry-jacob/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2350013/allsebrook,-percy-john/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2696616/welsh,-stanley/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2824120/goldthorpe,-roy-charles-thomas/
10. http://www.626-squadron.co.uk/crews11.html
11. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-avro-683-lancaster-i-near-burdale-6-killed
12. http://www.wickenbymuseum.co.uk/Museum/Newsletters/Newsletter%20July%202014.pdf
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 23 May 1944 | NE118 | 626 Sqn RAF | 3 | Asten, Noord-Brabant |  |
w/o |
| 26 August 1944 | PA989 | 626 Sqn RAF | 3 | Ruschberg, Rheinland-Pfalz |  |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 29-Aug-2013 15:42 | JINX | Added |
| 13-Sep-2013 06:29 | ncritchley | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities] |
| 09-Nov-2018 17:00 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 13-Nov-2019 18:50 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Cn, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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