Date:	Thursday 31 July 1941
Time:	02:56
Type:	Vickers Wellington Mk Ic
Owner/operator:	142 Sqn RAF
Registration:	W5364
MSN:	QT-H
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Ashdown Forest, near Nutley, 5 miles NNW of Uckfield, Sussex. -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Wellington W5364/H: Took off 00:01 hrs for bombing mission to Cologne (G). 31/07/1941
Hit by flak while on a mission. The aircraft, on one engine, reached England but crashed in bad weather on the south slopes of Ashdown Forest, Kent.
Crashed 02:56hrs on heath land in the Ashdown Forest near Nutley 5 miles NNW of Uckfield Sussex.
Crashed at Nutley, Ashdown Forest, near Uckfield, Sussex, after being hit by flak upon returning from a bombing mission to Cologne, Germany. All six crew members died in the crash.
Crew of Wellington W5364:
Sgt (740176) Henry Alexander Vincent VIDLER (Pilot) RAF
Sgt (528254) Victor Ronald SUTTON (Pilot) RAF
Sgt (581201) Wilfred Stanley BROOKS (Obs.) RAF
Sgt (615262) Arthur Ernest CAVE (WOp/AG) RAF
Sgt (990190) Thomas Stanley HATHAWAY (WOp/AG) RAFVR
F/Sgt (754479) Leonard SAUNDERS (AG) RAF

The Airman's Grave is not in fact a grave, but a memorial to the six man crew of a Wellington bomber of 142 Squadron who were killed when it crashed in the forest on the morning of 31 July 1941 on its return from a raid on Cologne during World War II. The memorial, which is a simple stone-walled enclosure on the heathland west of Duddleswell, shelters a white cross surrounded by a tiny garden of remembrance and was erected by the mother of Sergeant V.R. Sutton, who was aged 24 at the time of his death. A short public service takes place each year on Remembrance Sunday when a wreath is laid by an Ashdown Forest Ranger, at the request of Mrs Sutton, together with one from the Ashdown Forest Riding Association. The Ashdown Forest Centre has published a circular walk to the memorial, starting from Hollies car park.

A summary of the burial details for the crew are given at source 12, which also contains interesting background information on the memorial.

Sergeant Sutton is buried in a family grave in Brockley Cemetery, South London. His epitaph describes him as ‘One of many unsung heroes who sacrificed his life’. According to the inscription on his headstone he was on his 30th trip. See source 24.

1. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR81/8000: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16757297
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/372/20: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8388692
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/372/21: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8388693
4. https://www.brightonandhoveindependent.co.uk/news/people/remembering-the-crew-of-a-wellington-bomber-that-crashed-in-ashdown-forest-3450453
5. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2402242/henry-alexander-vincent-vidler/
6. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2428386/victor-ronald-sutton/
7. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2654961/wilfred-stanley-brooks/
8. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2736249/arthur-ernest-cave/
9. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2696255/thomas-stanley-hathaway/
10. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2909448/leonard-saunders/
11. http://www.aviationarchaeology.org.uk/marg/142sqn_losses.htm
12. http://aircrewremembered.com/vidler-henry.html
13. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/172477754/henry-alexander_vincent-vidler
14. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24619354/victor-ronald-sutton
15. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57638240/wilfred-stanley-brooks
16. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/123845421/arthur-ernest-cave
17. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/143939603/thomas-stanley-hathaway
18. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52454761/leonard-saunders
19. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/124034
20. http://thebignote.com/2016/02/15/ashdown-forest-the-airmens-grave/
21. https://www.ashdownforest.org/enjoy/walking/docs/Walk2_SouthernSlopesAirmansGrave.pdf
22. https://www.countrylife.co.uk/out-and-about/the-airmans-grave-ashdown-forest-a-touching-and-little-known-memorial-to-victims-of-war-and-fate-222844
23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashdown_Forest#The_Airman's_Grave
24. https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/83823

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

30 July 1942

Z1316

142 Sqn RAF

6

Heivoort, Balen, Antwerp

w/o

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
09-Nov-2021 10:34	gerard57	Added
09-Nov-2021 10:35	gerard57	Updated [Source]
02-Apr-2022 23:22	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category]
03-Apr-2022 09:50	Nepa	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Embed code, Narrative, Operator]
18-Jun-2023 14:23	Richard	Updated [[Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Embed code, Narrative, Operator]]
19-Jun-2023 13:08	Richard	Updated [[[Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Embed code, Narrative, Operator]]]