ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 195104
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| Date: | Wednesday 17 October 1945 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Vickers Wellington Mk X |
| Owner/operator: | MAEE Helensborough |
| Registration: | NA929 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Brodick Bay, Isle of Arran -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | MAEE Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire |
| MAEE Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire |
Written off (destroyed) 17-10-1945 whilst in low level flight (at approximately 50 feet); a depth charge was released during Depth charge dropping trials and exploded prematurely, damaging the aircraft, which dived into the sea at Brodick Bay, Isle of Arran. Aircraft was operated by the MAEE (Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment) at Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire. All three crew killed:
Flight Lieutenant Albert Stuart Carswell, AFC, RAFVR, Service Number 89368, MAEE Helensburgh (Pilot)
Warrant Officer James Norman Sparkes RAFVR, Service Number 1534177, aged 26
Mr Charles William Bound, Flight Test Officer (civilian, aged 31)
The body of Flight Lieutenant Albert Carswell was recovered, and was buried at Eastwood New Cemetery, Glasgow. Warrant Officer James Sparkes is commemorated in the family crypt in Toxteth Park Cemetery, Liverpool. The memorial stone is described on a web site as:
"Small upright white stone, curved top, raised square shoulders, inscribed grave surround. In treasured memory of / Sarah Lily, / wife of James D. SPARKES, / who departed this life 7th May 1940 / *our mother.* / And the above / James Dobson SPARKES, / died 2nd June 1942. Surround: And James Norman SPARKES, Warrant Officer R.A.F.V.R., their dearly loved son, / killed in aircraft accident at sea, Brodick Bay, 17th October 1945, aged 26 years."
However other records imply that Warrant Officer Sparkes was not interred in this crypt, but may have gone down with the aircraft to the bottom of Brodick Bay. The fact that the CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) have his name commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, which is for aircrew whose body was never found and/or not recovered, adds to the supposition that he "went down with his aircraft"
Sources:
1. http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/memorial/search.php?year1=1940&year2=1949
2. http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/vickers-wellington.9348/page-2#post-571258
3. http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=676593.0
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Aircraft_Experimental_Establishment
5. http://www.helensburgh-heritage.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1272:remembrance-tribute-to-maee&catid=88:military&Itemid=462
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2452886/carswell,-albert-stewart/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1807711/sparkes,-james-norman/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/75452355/bound,-charles-william/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 29-Apr-2017 21:41 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
| 19-Oct-2019 17:45 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative] |
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