Date:	Friday 1 February 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Avro Lancaster B Mk III
Owner/operator:	12 Sqn RAF
Registration:	NE140
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Beeby, Charnwood, Leicestershire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Strubby, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:	RAF Strubby, Lincolnshire

Narrative:
Avro Lancaster B. Mk. III NE140, 12 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) 1 February 1946 when crashed within a half-a-mile of Beeby, Charnwood, Leicestershire, all six crew on board were killed.

The crew was completing a training sortie from RAF Strubby. While flying in cloudy conditions, the pilot lost control of the aircraft and spiralled into the ground. After it crossed the last cloud layer, wings partially detached. The aircraft disintegrated in the air and eventually crashed in a field located half-a-mile from Beeby, Charnwood, Leicestershire. All six occupants were killed.

According to a contemporary local newspaper report (Lancashire Evening Post of February 2nd 1946):

"SIX KILLED IN PLANE CRASH
It is now known that six R.A.F. men were killed when a Lancaster crashed in flames and exploded within half a mile of Beeby (Leics.) yesterday, and Air Ministry official said to-day.

The Air Ministry this afternoon announced the names of those killed as: Flying Officer M. F. Blomer [sic] (pilot), Warrant Officer K. W. Stone (flight engineer), and Flight-Sergeant S. Low (navigator).

Those missing and presumed killed are Flight-Sergeant K. S. Chessum (air bomber), Flight-Sergeant J. Adams (wireless operator), and Flight-Sergeant J. B. Forbes (gunner)."

Causes: It appears that the loss of control occurred while the aircraft was flying in cumulonimbus clouds with heavy turbulence. Wings were partially sheared off during the fall due to the wrong attitude of the aircraft and due to excessive load (aerodynamic forces), well above certification. The Lancaster dived out of the cloud, but the wing tips failed due to the stress loadings. The aircraft then disintegrated in flight before hitting the ground

Crew of Lancaster NE140:
Warrant Officer James Adams (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) Service Number 1824865, buried at Stritchen Parish Churchyard, Strichen, Aberdeenshire
Flying Officer Michael Francis Blumer (Pilot) Service Number 191600, aged 23, buried at St. Marys Churchyard, Binbrook, Lincolnshire
Flight Sergeant Kenneth Stanley Chessum (Air Bomber) Service Number 1424441, aged 32, buried at St. Marys Churchyard, Binbrook, Lincolnshire
Flight Sergeant James Burden Forbes (Air Gunner) Service Number 1445082, aged 33, buried at Jeanfield & Wellshil Cemetery, Perth, Tayside, Scotland
Flight Sergeant Sidney Caesar Low (Navigator) Service Number 1678598, aged 21, buried at All Saints Churchyard, Ecceleshall, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Warrant Officer Kenneth William Stone (Flight Engineer) Service Number 1604005, aged 24, buried at St. Mary's Churchyard. Hellsedon, Norfolk

The reported crash location of Beeby is a village and civil parish in the Charnwood district of Leicestershire, north-east of Leicester, near to the villages of Keyham and Hungarton at approximate coordinates 52.669°N 1.020°W. All six crew members deaths were recorded in the district of Barrow-upon-Soar, Leicestershire. Despite this, several published sources wrongly give the crash location as being in Lincolnshire...probably confusing "Beeby" (Leicestershire) with "Beesby" (Lincolnshire). The two locations are approximately 91 miles apart, and the above newspaper report confirms the crash location as Leicestershire.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.29. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. The Lancaster File (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985)
3. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.57
4. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.95: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) AVIA 5/28/W2321: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578167
6. 12 Squadron ORB (Operations Record Book) for the period 1-1-46 to 31-1-49: National Archives (PRO Kew) file AIR 27/2394/30 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8419057
7. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-avro-683-lancaster-iii-raf-strubby-6-killed
8. https://www.flickr.com/photos/43688219@N00/7378372630
9. https://www.flickr.com/photos/43688219@N00/7322436906
10. https://www.cwgc.org/search-for-war-dead/casualty/2458878/
11. https://www.cwgc.org/search-for-war-dead/casualty/2416744/
12. https://www.cwgc.org/search-for-war-dead/casualty/2416747/
13. https://www.cwgc.org/search-for-war-dead/casualty/2457942/
14. https://www.cwgc.org/search-for-war-dead/casualty/2407763/
15. https://www.cwgc.org/search-for-war-dead/casualty/2763904/STONE,%20KENNETH%20WILLIAM
16. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/290016
17. https://www.avro-lancaster.info/neseries/NE140
18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beeby

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
23-May-2010 12:07	TB	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Other fatalities, Nature, Narrative]
08-Oct-2018 00:06	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
18-Oct-2018 19:01	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator]
04-Nov-2019 02:48	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
21-Nov-2019 01:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
07-Jun-2021 01:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
07-Jun-2021 01:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
07-Jun-2021 01:21	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
07-Jun-2021 01:22	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
08-Jun-2021 18:02	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
08-Jun-2021 18:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
18-Jul-2023 02:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Narrative]]