ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 15765
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| Date: | Sunday 28 May 1944 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Bristol Beaufighter Mk VIF |
| Owner/operator: | 68 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | V8594 |
| MSN: | 10707 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Kilvough Farm, Gower Penninsula, West Glamorgan, South Wales -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Fairwood Common, West Glamorgan |
| Return. |
Beaufighters V8594 ("WM-M") and V8742 ("WM-Q") Took off at afternoon for a gun camera exercise. 28/05/1944
Beauf V8742 machine guns were accidentally fired at Beauf V8594. Damaged Aircraft force landed on a field at Kilvough Farm on the Gower Penninsula in West Glamorgan.
Although severely injured, pilot and his navigator managed to get clear of the aircraft before it burst into flames. An inquiry into the accidental firing of Beauf V8742's guns blamed an electrical fault. Navigator laterdied from injuries sustained (09/06/1944).
Crew:
F/Lt (115.997) Bernard David WILLS (pilot) RAFVR - injured
F/O (128.676) Gerald Arthur "Peter" LEDEBOER (nav.) RAFVR - injured /later died as a result of his injuries.
V8594 was one of 600 aircraft ordered from the Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton, Bristol to contract 30264/39 and delivered between March 1942 and May 1943. The ‘run’ comprised of 125 to mkIF, 75 as mk IIF and 400 to mkVIF. She was the last of the 10th batch consisting of 50 units which ranged from V8545 to V8594.
The Beaufighter mk VIF was the mark VI (7) but fitted with the A.I.VI of A.I.mkVII (Airbourne Interception) radar.
V8594 was allocated to No.604 squadron during the month of April 1943 at RAF Ford. At 17:25hrs that evening she took off on a training sortie with F/Lt M. Ree and F/Lt A. Aagaard, at 18:20hrs they returned after a successful flight. The squadron had moved to RAF Scorton and on the night of the 13/14th of May 1943, she took off on her last sortie with 604 squadron, flown by Sgt G. Jameson (pilot) and Sgt L. Ambrey (Nav’).
V8594 was ‘slated’ to join 68 squadron and along with a number of Beaufighters (which had the A.I mk VI) fitted at production. These were converted to have the powerful A.I mk VII & VIII sets installed within the thimble radome on the nose.
After completion she arrived at 68 squadrons station, which was at that time, RAF Fairwood Common during the middle of April 1944. She was ‘Scrambled’ on the 25th, along with seven other aircraft to intercept enemy aircraft, this was likely to have been her first ‘offensive patrol’ but “No joy”! was called.
She was called on to fly three more offensive/defensive patrols and on the 28th, she took off for ‘Gun Camera practice’ flown by F/Lt Wills and his navigator, F/Lt Ledeboer. They were joined by another squadron Beau, V8742 ‘Q’.
An important point to note is, there is absolutely no mention of the accident within the squadron records!
Crew:
F/Lt Bernard David Wills 115997 RAFVR. Pilot. Injured. Safe.
F/O Gerald Arthur "Peter" Ledeboer 36yo 128676 RAFVR. Nav’. Injured /died from his injuries.
Son of Douglas Howard Ledeboer and Ida Louise Ledeboer; husband of Pamela Mara Ledeboer, of Twickenham, Middlesex.
Burials:
Mortlake Crematorium. London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Panel 8.
Wreckage:
Located on an active livestock farm, nothing remains above ground and the site has been worked over to remove the contaminated ground.
Sources:
1. Croft, Peter L. 1994 A History of No. 68 Squadron Royal Air Force. p.11
2. ORB 68 Sqdn RAF
3. History 68 Squadron RAF
4. http://www.ggat.org.uk/timeline/pdf/Military%20Aircraft%20Crash%20Sites%20in%20Southeast%20Wales.pdf
5. http://www.clynevalleycommunityproject.co.uk/world-war-ii/4559743795
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2435154/ledeboer,-gerald-arthur-(peter)/
7. https://www.ancientfaces.com/person/gerald-arthur-peter-ledeboer/164404431
www.rafcommands.com
www.britishaviation-ptp.com
www.cwgc.org
www.findagrave.com
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 13-Mar-2008 04:30 | Nepa | Added |
| 17-Feb-2010 12:01 | NePa | Updated [Operator, Narrative] |
| 28-Mar-2012 02:14 | Nepa | Updated [Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 14-Jun-2014 15:40 | Nepa | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 08-Dec-2015 16:22 | Thomas Fuk | Updated [Location, Narrative] |
| 13-Dec-2017 11:34 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative] |
| 27-Apr-2019 23:40 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Registration, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 28-Apr-2019 09:36 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 09-Nov-2019 12:07 | Nepa | Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator] |
| 28-Jan-2022 18:34 | Nepa | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Operator] |
| 28-Jan-2022 20:43 | Nepa | Updated [Narrative, Operator] |
| 22-Apr-2024 07:45 | Davies 62 | Updated [Cn, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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