ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 386373
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| Date: | Friday 28 April 1944 |
| Time: | 23:50 |
| Type: |  Vickers Wellington MkX 'OP-M' |
| Owner/operator: | 11 OTU |
| Registration: | JA456 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | RAF Haverford West perimeter. Poyston Valley. -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Westcott |
| Return. |
Details:
The RAF OTU (Operational Training Unit) was the last stage for aircrew before being assigned to an operational squadron. By this stage, individuals had undertaken all their basic training, on arrival at the OTU they were crewed up and flew the aircraft at the unit, this crew would become their tight group and would later fly on Op’s together.
Experienced aircrew would be posted to an OTU to train and mentor new crews, just because they were not flying over enemy territory, the post still come with its own perils.
No.11 OTU.
The unit was formed in 1940 as part of No.6 Group RAF Bomber Command at RAF Bassingbourne to train bomber aircrew. During 1942 it flew seven operational night bombing missions. During September that year, it moved to RAF Westcott.
The MkX (Ten).
This version became the standard variant in the Wellington family and was similar to the mkIII but with upgraded engines. It was the most produced with 3,804 units produced.
Wellington JA456 was built at the Vickers works at Blackpool and was issued to the RAF. Its first posting was with 29 OTU on the 25th of September 1943. She flew without incident and came to 11 OTU arriving on the 10th of December 1943 at RAF Westcott and received the radio codes ‘OP-M’.
On the evening of Friday the 28th of April, she took off for a night navigation exercise which part of the route was a well-used one which took them out to the Isle of Man and south down the Irish Sea before making landfall on the West coast of Wales. Depending on the navigators’ timings, wind speed etc, they could cross over anywhere around the Pembrokeshire coast and south, The crew of ‘M’ found themselves turning East at the mouth of the Bristol Channel. Whist cruising at 15,000Ft the Port engine failed. The wireless operator made efforts for a land and location fix and received a bearing to head for RAF Haverford West and land for repairs. At 23:45hrs they attempted a landing.
However, being unfamiliar with the airfield and coupled with the issue of having only one engine, the aircraft touched down over halfway on the main South to North runway. The underpowered ‘Wimpy’ bounced back into the air, loosing airspeed, then plunged into a 40-foot-deep ravine that lay just beyond the end of the runway and immediately burst into flames.
Only two of the crew survived the crash, the cause of which was found that the engine had failed due to overheating caused by a partial failure of the main bearing.
Crew:
F/Sgt Trevor Lloyd Gardiner 25yo NZ/415277 RNZAF. Pilot. Killed. 1
Son of Albert Gardiner and Mabel Gardiner and husband of Dorothy Patricia Gardiner, of Westown, New Plymouth. New Zealand.
Sgt Stanley George Kingsmill 20yo 1394618 RAFVR. Bdr. Killed. 2
Son of George Albert and Maud Mary Kingsmill of 232 London Road, Dover.
F/Sgt Marccl Louis Quadry 1376695 RAFVR. W/Op-AG. Killed. 3
Sgt Leornard Ernest Laird 24yo NZ/421514 RNZAF. W/Op-AG. Killed. 4
Son of Ronald James Laird and Dora Laird; husband of Joan Florence Laird of Palmerston North, Wellington, New Zealand.
Sgt Alistair Henry Scott 27yo NZ/428259 RNZAF. Nav. Injured. #
Son of A.W. Scott and Annabella Scott, of Glenorchy, Otago, New Zealand.
Sgt N.L. Taylor RAFVR. AG. Injured.
Burials:
1 Haverford West Cemetery (City Road). Cons. Row 1. Grave 9.
2 Dover New Cemetery (St Marys). Section Y.G.X. Grave 16.
3 Maidenhead Register*
4 Haverford West (City Road). Cons. Row 1. Grave 10.
# Rheinberg War Cemetery. Grave 5. B.25.
Wreckage:
Not known.
Memorials:
A composite memorial can be seen in the village of Westcott to the crews who flew and died with 11 OTU.
Additional Information:
Sgt Scott recovered and returned to active service. Sadly, he was lost on the 4th of November the same year as part of the crew of Lancaster ND917 ‘AA-O’ with 75 squadron. The crew of seven were all killed when the Lancaster crashed at Wermelskirchen.
F/Sgt Gardiner was born on the 26th of December 1918 at Manganol County. He was a farmer for the farmers trading corporation and enlisted on the 18th of January 1941 at New Plymouth. He had amassed 399 flying hours, with only 39 on type.
*Maidenhead Register. Those named withing the register were all non-Commonwealth foreign nationals who died serving as members of Commonwealth Forces. As they were not Commonwealth citizens, their families had the right to remove them to their home countries after the war if they so wished. F/Sgt Quadty was repatriated and buried in his country of birth, France.
Sgt Laird was born on the 12th of August 1919 at Wanganui. Before the war he worked as a diary assistant for the Agricultural Department. He enlisted on the 27th of February 1942 at Rongota after 8 weeks in the army.
Sgt Scott was born on the 6th of February 1917 at Glenorchy. Worked as a farmer on his father’s farm prior to enlisting on the 13th of July 1942 at Blenheim.
Sources:
www.aircrewrembered.com
www.rafcommands.com
www.vwma.org.au
www.cwgc.org
www.findagrave.com
www.ww1.wales/pembrokeshire/haverfordwest-ww2-war-memorial
www.airbritain.com
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Apr-2024 06:46 | Davies 62 | Added |
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