ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 15891
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| Date: | Friday 27 February 1942 |
| Time: | 03:00 |
| Type: | Handley Page Hampden Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 144 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | L4178 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | nr Hexthorpe, Doncaster, Yorkshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF North Luffenham, Rutland |
The crew of this aircraft were tasked with flying an operational flight to bomb Kiel in Northern Germany. Kiel was one of the major ship building cities and German naval port and it was deemed a strategic target and the city and its people suffered because of this through-out the War. Hampden L4178 took off from North Luffenham in the evening and all appears to have gone to plan out-bound and over the target area. On their return to the UK the aircraft missed the Lincolnshire airfield possibly due to poor weather and eventually ran out of fuel and crashed into a railway cutting at 03:00 near Hexthorpe in the southern outskirts of Doncaster. Sadly all four airmen in the aircraft lost their lives as a result of the accident. A memorial in commemoration of the lives lost in this incident is to be found the Guest Lane Cemetery, Warmsworth. I have yet to learn which railway cutting the accident occurred in, given the memorial is near the railway cuttings of a now dis-used railway at Warmsworth and then after crossing the River Don a further Cutting in the fields at the north side of the river I guess it may be here. The location of the crash as given in the service file of the wireless operator states "Hexthorpe Railway Cutting near Warmsworth by St.James Bridge".
Crew:-
Pilot - Sgt Reginald Alfred Bland RAFVR (1379420) - Portslade Cemetery, Sussex.
Observer - F/O Harold Edward Aspey MiD RAF (45094) - Salisbury Cemetery, Wiltshire (NCO:515556 Commission Gazetted : Tuesday 14 January, 1941)
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/Sgt John Balfour Gray RCAF (R/58225) - Rose Hill Cemetery, Doncaster, Yorkshire.
Air Gunner - Sgt John Arthur Eves RAFVR (929118) - Rose Hill Cemetery, Doncaster, Yorkshire.
Sources:
Air-Britain: Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-N9999
http://www.lostbombers.co.uk/bomber.php?id=4321
Aircraft accidents in Yorkshire
https://www.flickr.com/photos/96127522@N04/21990330066/in/dateposted/
Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 16-Mar-2008 15:34 | JINX | Added |
| 22-Jun-2008 00:53 | JINX | Updated |
| 01-Jun-2013 16:36 | Nepa | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 07-Jul-2013 21:10 | JINX | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source] |
| 27-Nov-2014 15:39 | ABBA | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 09-Nov-2017 20:13 | Red Dragon | Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 17-Oct-2018 05:49 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Operator] |
| 28-Oct-2020 07:34 | Anon. | Updated [Source] |
| 26-Feb-2024 08:04 | Rob Davis | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
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