Date:	Wednesday 17 June 1942
Time:
Type:	Bristol Beaufighter Mk IIF
Owner/operator:	125 (Newfoundland) Sqn RAF
Registration:	R2318
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Furzehill Farm, Martletwy, Narbeth, West Glamorgan, Wales -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Fairwood Common, West Glamorgan, South Wales
Destination airport:	RAF Fairwood Common, West Glamorgan, South Wales

Narrative:
Beaufighter R2318: Took off for training flight. 17/06/1942
Had been practising interceptions with another aircraft when it entered a high-speed spin and crashed within a triangular piece of ground formed by Ilston, Lunnon and Furzehill Farm, Gower, West Glamorgan.
Crew
P/O (122.929) Philip Gruchy (Pilot) RAFVR - Killed
Sgt (1175879) Francis Whyte (Obs.) RAFVR - killed


Details:
This Beaufighter and her crew were conducting a training flight practicing interceptions along with another squadron aircraft acting as the E/A (Enemy Aircraft) to hone their abilities to intercept and engage, taking it in turns to act as the E/A.
Only recently had Philip Gruchy been promoted from Sergeant (Ser’ No. 798561) on the 4th of June 1942 to Pilot Officer (Ser’ No. 122929). His first operational patrol as a Commissioned officer occurred on the 15th of June. Several E/A had been reported from Lands End to Hartland Point, engaging in Minelaying and Anti shipping attacks. Four aircraft of 125 squadron were directed to engage, P/O Gruchy and Sgt Whyte engaged one E/A with limited ‘exposure’ before they were fired upon by the Medium Anti-Aircraft ‘Bofors’ at Lizard Point. One other 125 Beau’, flown by S/Ldr Barwell was at a lower height and received hits in his wing which proved to be .303, probably from a Lewis LAA.
There was no operational flying on the 16th and 17th of June, giving Gruchy and Whyte chance to get in some practice. After only an hour or so, a civilian, Mr Arthur Williams of Lunnon was rounding up cattle when he spotted an aircraft spinning to earth with the fuselage separating from the wings just before impacting either side of the ancient bridleway that leads from Lunnon village and passed Furzehill farm and onto the common beyond. Another local, Mr Jack Mumby of Furzeland Farm of Lunnon was also working on a field nearby was the first to try to give any help. As he approached the crash, he could see the two-crew trapped in the wrecked fuselage which was smouldering. He managed to get closer after getting through the thick hedge that still runs along the bridleway and as he was attempting to free one of the crew, the Beaufighter suddenly flared up into an intense inferno that drove Jack back. He could see the fire spreading very rapidly, being fed by the fuel, he turned to get away seeing no other way out, he jumped the ditch and landed badly just as the ammunition started to ‘cook off’. He knew that he had likely broken his ankle and terrified that he could become a casualty too, crawled and hobbled into the ditch which hopefully would provide some cover from the scene from hell over the other side of the Blackthorn and Bramble hedge. Jack, only two months before had helped the pilot of Spitfire BL231 that crashed near his farm.
As usual the crash investigation took place by the RAF which found that the cause of accident was down to ‘Pilot error’ as was the common reason.
“Gruchy was “disregarding instructions in that he aerobated a non-aerobatic a/c, getting into a high-speed spin and thus over stressing his aircraft, tearing the wings off in his efforts to correct it but the incident could have been a result of inadequacies in the aircraft’s design! Weather at the time was described as fair, slight mist, visibility 5 to 6 miles with patchy cumulus cloud, the base at 2500 feet. Such were the conditions at about 10 a.m. local time when Gruchy and Whyte, in Beaufighter R2318 and a second, unidentified, Beaufighter completed their training exercise. The pilot of the second aircraft radioed Gruchy twice but failed to get a response so began to approach Gruchy’s aircraft, likely close enough to communicate using hand signals in the event Gruchy’s radio was not working - a common occurrence. He reported getting within 100 yards of the plane when, he saw Gruchy’s aircraft turn 90 degrees to port (left) in a medium dive from 12,000 feet to approximately 9,000 feet ... level out and execute 2 rolls to starboard (right), the second roll being very rapid. The aircraft then developed a steep spiral spin which gradually flattened”.

Crew:
P/O Philip Gruchy 21yo 122929 RAFVR. Pilot. Killed. 1
Son of Philip and Evelyn Gruchy of Grand Falls, Newfoundland.
Sgt Francis Whyte 1175879 RAFVR. W/Op-Radar. Killed. 2

Buried:
1 Killay (St Hilary) Churchyard. Grave 181.
2 Liverpool (Ford) Roman Catholic Cemetery. Section A. H. Grave 72.

Wreckage:
When I spoke to Jack Mumford (Who now lives in Lunnon Farm) he said how much the crash still stays with him 70 years on, he said where the wreckage came down and was very clear stating that the recovery crews were extremely thorough and gave me permission to try to detect anything remaining but, to my discredit I tried during the summer months when everything was flourishing, but that was four years ago then when I planned for a Spring visit the following year, the field in question was full of new born lambs, then Covid 19 happened!

Memorials:
Commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt of Honour register and the Book of Remembrance - Newfoundland, page 166.
CWGC Headstones.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft R1000-R9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain)
2. Fallen Flyers: Tragedy in the Skies Over Wartime Gower (Wartime Record) Bryngold Books Ltd; First edition (1 May 2005) by Steven H. Jones
3. https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/489555421979770134/
4. http://www.ggat.org.uk/timeline/pdf/Military%20Aircraft%20Crash%20Sites%20in%20Southeast%20Wales.pdf
5. http://www.clynevalleycommunityproject.co.uk/world-war-ii/4559743795
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._125_Squadron_RAF#Second_World_War
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2717284/gruchy,-philip/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2412235/whyte,-francis/
9. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2717284
rafremembered.com

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Apr-2019 22:36	Dr. John Smith	Added
28-Apr-2019 09:33	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
21-Apr-2022 17:39	Nepa	Updated [Time, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative, Operator]
08-Jun-2022 19:14	Davies 62	Updated [Source, Narrative]