ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 15699
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| Date: | Tuesday 26 May 1942 |
| Time: | |
| Type: | Hawker Henley Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 1 AACU RAF |
| Registration: | L3441 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Nr. Aberporth, Cardiganshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Aberporth |
| Return. |
Stalled & spun into ground after engine failed.
Mission: Target Towing Duty.
Details:
On the 1st of September 1941 RAF Aberporth opened under the Royal Air Force Army Co-Operation Command. Its purpose was to operate target towing aircraft for the Anti-Aircraft Training Unit above the small fishing port of Aberporth. This site was to become known as POE Aberporth (Projectile Development Establishment and later after the war BAe Aberporth.
The Henley did not start out as a Target Tug. In 1934 Air Min’ P.4/34 was issued which called for a light bomber that could also be deployed in a close-support role as a Dive Bomber!
Fairey, Gloster and Hawker attempted to fulfil this need and competition was tight to attain the highest performance possible. As the aircraft required only a modest bomb load and with performance being paramount, the Hawker design team chose to focus its efforts on developing an aircraft similar in size to their Hurricane fighter. The Hurricane was then in an advanced design stage and there would be economies of scale if some assemblies were common to both aircraft. This resulted in the Henley, as it was to become known, sharing identical outer wing panel and tailplane jigs with the Hurricane. The Air Ministry decided to abandon work on dive bombers in 1938, which had much to do with the danger of engine overspeed in a dive. This could be alleviated using constant speed propellers, such as the Rotol, but these were not available in significant quantity until 1940 and they were then urgently needed to improve the performance of the Hurricane.
Henley production was subcontracted to Gloster Aircraft and 200 were ordered into production at their aero works at Hucclecote. L3441 was one of 200 delivered to the RAF between November 1938 and September 1940. It was assigned to No.1 AACU which was at RAF Farnbourogh on the 26th of March 1940. ‘L’ Flight (including L3441) was sent to RAF Aberporth soon after it opened, equipped with Wallaces and Henleys to conduct TT op’s. On the 1st of July 1941’Q; Flight was formed with Lysander, Henleys, Magisters and Martinets, seeing the obsolete Wallace withdrawn from service. There followed more changes (Probably a bored Admin officer!) ‘X’ Flight was formed then followed by ‘B’ Flight (PAU)? Then again in the traditional ministry wisdom, the flights became numbered, just to confuse not just the enemy but those on base as well. ‘B’ Flight became 1607, ‘L’ 1608 and ‘Q’ Flight 1609. Then on the 1st of December 1943 the flights became No.595 Squadron, but that is another story.
Accidents soon followed the unit’s arrival at Aberporth. L3441 and her crew had their ultimate event occur on the 26th of May. She had just conducted a pass and was turning for another when the aircraft was seen to climb and simply stalled at too low a height for the pilot to fly out of the problem, L3441 stall turned at the top of the climb and spun into the ground near Rhiw y Rofft lane which leads up to the range. Both crew members were killed instantly.
Crew:
Sgt Charles McLean 25yo 1222279 RAFVR. Pilot. Killed. 1
Son of Harry S. McLean and Jean McLean, of Hamilton.
Ac2 Tony Edward Mitchell 1284520 RAFVR. Tow Op’. 2
Son of Sidney Herbert and Charlotte Mitchell, of Enfield.
Buried:
1 Hamilton West Cemetery. Section D. Grave 460.
2 Enfield (Lavender Hill) Cemetery. Section B. Cons. Grave 2467.
Wreckage:
The exact location is extremely difficult to positively identify due to the lay of the slope and thick undergrowth and the suspected site is located between an unclassified road and a private access road.
Additional Information:
BAe Aberporth was the development site of the famous Bloodhound missile and the BHFU (Bloodhound Firing Unit).
Excerpt from Wikipedia.
“The Bristol Bloodhound is a British ramjet powered surface-to-air missile developed during the 1950s. It served as the UK's main air defence weapon into the 1990s and was in large-scale service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the forces of four other countries.”
During it’s height involved with the test firing of Bloodhound, especially during the 80’s, holidaymakers soaking up the sun on Aberporth beach nearby were on occasion treated to an expensive firework display with the launches of the missile just up on the headland less than a mile away.
RAF Aberporth closed in 1985 but it is still an active airfield, both for civilian and military use with many different aircraft types visiting.
Memorials:
CWGC headstones.
Sources:
Hawker production list
rafremembered.com
rafaberporth.org.uk
www.cwgc.org
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Mar-2008 13:18 | JINX | Added |
| 19-Nov-2018 18:38 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Phase, Nature, Source, Operator] |
| 23-May-2022 18:39 | Davies 62 | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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