ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 175169
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| Date: | Saturday 15 August 1942 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire Mk IIa |
| Owner/operator: | 53 OTU RAF |
| Registration: | P8380 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Llwynyffnon Farm, Glyn-neath, east of Resolven, Glamorgan -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Llandow, Glamorgan |
| RAF Llandow, Glamorgan |
Spitfire P8380 was a presentation aircraft named "Black Velvet". It was issued to 53 OTU, RAF Llandow, Glamorgan on 16/6/42. On 15/8/42 ‘Black Velvet’ flew into the ground in bad weather at Llwyn-y-ffynon Farm, Glyn-Neath, east of Resolven, Glamorgan. The pilot, 20-year-old Sgt Alan Fisher was killed.
Spitfire P8380 was written off the books on 21/8/42.
Pilot: Sergeant Alan Fisher (Service Number 1128865) RAFVR - killed.
R.I.P.
Buried Peel Green Cemetery, Wigan, Lancashire, Sec. G. Grave 17964
Details:
This Spitfire had an extremely short service life being posted from one squadron to another after a stay ranging from two months to twenty-one days. She was a presentation Spitfire with funds from the Gaumont Cinema of the city of Manchester. Her given name was ‘Black Velvet’, taken from the last Theatrical play of the same name which took place during the summer months of 1940 after the ‘Cinema’ was bombed by the Luftwaffe making the showing of movies impossible at that time.
P8380 ‘Black Velvet’ was issued to the RAF at 9MU on the 30th of April 1941. Her first operational squadron was No.74 who were at RAF Manston on the 9th of May. After a long battle during 1940, the squadron were suffering from deprivation of spares and equipment and as was the common theme amongst all the squadrons of the RAF involved, had to beg, borrow, or steel and make and mend getting aircraft which in peacetime would have been grounded, up in the air in the hands of overly worked pilots. All the squadrons went through a rest period and during July 1941 it was ‘Tiger Squadrons’ turn. The squadron then went to the north of England to RAF Acklington to regroup. During this time 74 Sqn’ exchanged their MkII’s for the superior five B’s. P8380 left and went to No. 403 on the 24th of July. Twenty days later she went to 54 squadron arriving on the 4th of August, twenty-one days later, she came back to 403 on the 25th. A month later she was off to No.457 squadron RAAF.
No. 457 Squadron was formed at RAF Baginton in England on 16 June 1941. Equipped with Spitfires was the second RAAF fighter unit to be formed in England after 452 squadron. The establishment of both these squadrons formed part of an expansion of RAF Fighter Command which sought to improve its ability to defend Britain from a renewed German air offensive and to conduct offensive operations over occupied Europe. At the time of its formation the squadron's commanding officer, Squadron Leader Peter Malam Brothers, both flight commanders and all members of the ground crew were British, but most pilots were Australian. The squadron's ground crew component had been formed at RAAF Williamtwon in Australia on the 10th of June and departed for England on the 7th of August. On the same day No. 457 Squadron moved to RAF Jurby and thence to RAF Andreas, which were both situated on the Isle of Man to undertake training. P8380 arrived on the 27th of September 1941 at RAF Andreas. She was involved in convoy patrols in the Irish Sea two days later. On the 1st of December 1941, P8380, piloted by F/Sgt Gifford was returning to Andreas after an operational sortie. Crossing the end of the runway at the time was one of the builder's foremen driving a lorry. One of the Spitfire's wheels hit the cab of the lorry, causing severe injuries to its occupant who died before rescuers could get him out of the wrecked lorry. F/Sgt Gifford managed to land the aircraft minus a wheel afterwards, suffering slight shock he was one of the men to attend to the foreman, but to no avail. P8380 was categorised as ‘E’ but repairable. She was sent for repair on the 31st of December before eventually coming to 53 OTU on the 15th of June 1942. Two months to the day, on the 15th of August she was on formation and aerobatic practice but did not return! A Shepherd stumbled across the wreck and a large crater on the farmland of Llwynffnan farm on the high ground above Glyncorrwg to the east and Resolven to the west. The alarm was raised with the rescue crews arriving shortly afterwards.
The result of the inquiry was that.
“It appears that the pilot may have lost consciousness during aerobatics with the A/C hitting the ground at high speed, partially burying itself in the hillside. Pilots remains and other sensitive equipment recovered.”
Another aspect was that below the agreed height of aerobatics there was thick cloud at Asl 1,000ft.
P8380 was Struck off Charge on the 21st of August 1942.
Crew:
Sgt Alan Fisher 20yo 1128865 RAFVR. Pilot. Killed.
Son of John & Olive Fisher of Weaste, Salford.
Buried:
Peel Green Cemetery. Section G. Grave 17964.
Wreckage:
Much of the large pieces was recovered later during the war to avoid new sightings from the air being reported. However, it remains as one of the crash sites of this aircraft with the most wreckage. The main reason being, after the farm was let go, the ground was taken over by the Forestry Commission and the site was covered for five decades with Pine trees, making it extremely difficult to find. During the early 00’s the trees were harvested, and a bike park established nearby. Still the site remained elusive to most. 2018 saw baby pines being planted along with the erection of the country’s largest wind farm. Now the site is hidden by thick new growth which will protect the site against thieves once again.
Additional Information:
In 1940 the Palace Theatre starred Noelle Gordon in the George Black revue ‘Black Velvet’ alongside Jill Manners and Stanelli. Joan Noele Gordon was an English actress and television presenter. She played the role of Meg Mortimer (originally Richardson) in the long-running British soap opera Crossroads from 1964 to 1981. She was credited as the first woman to be seen on colour television sets, as she took part in John Logie Baird’s world's first colour transmission on 3 July 1928.
Sources:
1. Doylerush, E, 2008, Rocks in the Clouds: High Ground Aircraft Crashes in South Wales, p.109.
2. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p007.html
3. http://www.ggat.org.uk/timeline/pdf/Military%20Aircraft%20Crash%20Sites%20in%20Southeast%20Wales.pdf
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2698600/fisher,-alan/
5. Photo of crash site: https://www.alltravels.com/united-kingdom/wales/glyncorrwg/photos/current-photo-3629133
6. http://ciapoldiescorner.blogspot.com/2009/08/events-for-15th-august.html
7. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?6330-420815-Unaccounted-airwoman-and-airmen-15-8-1942
nationalarchives.gov
www.graetanmarie.com/presentationspitfires
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Apr-2015 06:50 | angels one five | Added |
| 07-Apr-2015 06:57 | angels one five | Updated [Location] |
| 07-Apr-2015 07:07 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 16-Jul-2015 20:52 | Angel dick one | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 17-May-2019 21:56 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Cn, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 17-May-2019 21:57 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 17-May-2019 21:58 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 06-Feb-2021 02:37 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 06-Feb-2021 02:44 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 12-Jul-2022 05:41 | Davies 62 | Updated [Location, Source, Narrative, Category] |
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