ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 26539
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| Date: | Friday 13 September 1946 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Vickers Wellington Mk X |
| Owner/operator: | EANS RAF |
| Registration: | NC630 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Off Roscoff, Finistère département, Brittany, Saint-Pol-de-Léon -
 France
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Shawbury, Shropshire |
| RAF Shawbury, Shropshire | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Written off (destroyed) 13-11-1946: The crew was performing a training flight from RAF Shawbury. After flying over the island of Ouessant, heading to Straits of Dover, both engines failed simultaneously. Unable to restart the engines, the captain was forced to reduce his altitude and attempted to ditch the aircraft off Off Roscoff, Finistère département of Brittany, Morlaix, Saint-Pol-de-Léon (at approximate Coordinates: 48°43′38″N 3°59′04″W). According to the following published report (see link #2):
"On 13.9.46 Cadet J Smith was one of twenty-two cadets from Nelson ATC Squadron on a week's camp at RAF Shawbury. Cadet Smith was taken on board Wellington NC630, of the EANS to make one of the longer non-beligerent flights after the war. The captain was Polish, Flight Lieutenant Franczak, with Flying Officer K S Delbridge as navigation instructor, and a crew comprising two trainee navigators and a signaller (wireless operator). Forty six years on Ken Delbridge recalls "It was a nght flight on Friday the 13th, and the route planned was Shawbury - Ille d'Ouessant - to a position in the Straits of Dover - Shawbury. We reached Ile d'Ouessant and commenced track to Straits of Dover.
Suddenly we lost both engines and were forced to ditch with very little gliding. All the crew were in ditching positions, with the cadet and two crew members in the rear of the 'plane. We hit the sea with terrific force, and the 'plane appeared to break up about the main spar. The pilot escaped through the hatch, and Sergeant Bennett, the signaller, and myself escaped through wreckage under water. Our SOS was received in the UK, and we three survivors were picked up some 4-5 hours later from our dinghy by a diverted freighter en route to South America, which landed us at Plymouth."
Additional:
"16 Sept. 1946 the Times
The Air Ministry disclosed last night that an A.T.C. cadet aged 15, of Nelson Lancashire, was in a Wellington that crashed into the sea off Brest on Friday, and has been posted as missing, together with Sergeant D.E.Smith of the R.A.F, and an unnamed Indian Pilot Officer as his family has not been informed."
Cadet Smith and Sergeants Smith and Singh went down with the aircraft and their names are inscribed on the RAF Memorial at Runneymede.
Crew:
Flt Lt Henryk Franczak, DFC, pilot (Polish National, Survivor)
Flying Officer Ken S. Delbridge, navigator,
Sgt Bennett, signaler,
Air Cadet Joseph A. Smith, (aged 15, killed)
Sgt D.E. Smith, (killed)
Sgt Jagjit Singh. (Service Number IND/2915, killed)
It appears that a crew wanted to switch the fuel selector to the auxiliary tanks because the main one was near empty. In doing so, he inadvertently cut the fuel supply, causing both engines to stop. Flt Lt Henryk Franczak, DFC, the pilot, remained with the RAF as an instructor until December 1948 when he was recruited, on a three year contract, into the Pakistan Air Force. During 1948/49 he fought in the first Kashmir War. He was in a transport squadron based at Peshawar, flying Douglas Dakotas. He died in North Scituate, Providence, Rhode Island, USA on 1st July 2006 and, in accordance with his wishes, his ashes were buried in the Military Cemetery at Warsaw on 12th September 2006. He was accorded full military honours
Sources:
1. http://web.archive.org/web/20170629122443/http://www.baaa-acro.com:80/1946/archives/crash-of-a-vickers-wellington-in-atlantic-ocean-3-killed/
2. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/04986.php
3. http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/air-training-corps-roll-of-honour.52944/page-3
4. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/15274.php
5. https://304squadron.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Sep-2008 01:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 27-Apr-2017 19:57 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 27-Apr-2017 20:04 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Operator] |
| 27-Apr-2017 20:05 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Operator] |
| 27-Apr-2017 20:12 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 27-Apr-2017 20:13 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 27-Apr-2017 20:14 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Location] |
| 29-Nov-2018 09:35 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Nature, Operator] |
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