Date:	Tuesday 19 September 1939
Time:	07:00 LT
Type:	Vickers Wellington Mk I
Owner/operator:	75 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L4256
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Glyn-Neath, some 13 km northwest of Aberdare, Glamorgan -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Harwell, Oxfordshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
The first wartime loss from RAF Harwell occurred on 18th September with Wellington L4256 when the navigator got lost. The crew left RAF Harwell at 20:00 Local Time for a night training exercise. To add to the problem the wireless was not working. After vainly trying to establish their position, with fuel getting low and mountains below, the crew abandoned the aircraft, which dived into the ground at Glyn-Neath, some 13 km northwest of Aberdare, Glamorgan. Crash reported to have happened about 11 hours after take off, which would make the time of the incident at 07:00 am. Crew successfully parachuted to safety:

Flight Lt Alfred Howard Smythe (Service Number 37563)
Flying Officer Peter James Robert Kitchin (Service Number 39539)
Sgt Thomas Robert Moss (Service Number 518032)
Sgt John Harris Hollingworth (Service Number 619032)
AC.1 William Edward Denis Salt (Service Number 550423)

It was reported that small pieces of wreckage were still embedded into tree roots at the crash site,well into the early 21st Century: "Small pieces of wreckage in and around the roots of the trees. A badly battered engine remains in a small crater. The other lies approximately 70 metres away". (see links #2 and #3 below)

The official RAF Casualty Pack records Flying Officer Kitchin as having been injured. This document is now in the care of the UK National Archives and can be viewed at the Archives with a valid Reader's Ticket. See source 10 below.

1. http://www.ystradgynlais-history.co.uk/wellington-l4256.html
2. http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/507024/details/vickers-wellington-l4256
3. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/489555421976462020/
4. http://museum.uffington.net/resources/jimjones/docs/RAF_Harwell_history.pdf
5. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-vickers-290-wellington-i-aberdare
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?13755-Historical-Record-Wellington-L4256-75-Sqn-Loss-19th-Sep-1939
7. Brecon Beacons National Park, 1995, Identification Guide Aircraft Crashes in the National Park, ID 7
8. Doylerush, E, 2008, Rocks in the Clouds: High Ground Aircraft Crashes in South Wales, p23-5,
9. https://archwilio.org.uk/arch/query/page.php?watprn=GGAT05823w&dbname=ggat&tbname=core
10. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16359565

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
18-Apr-2016 10:32	ORD	Added
13-Nov-2016 16:37	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
13-Nov-2016 16:39	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
13-Nov-2016 16:40	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
13-Nov-2016 16:41	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
23-Dec-2017 16:40	Nepa	Updated [Operator]
27-Oct-2018 19:29	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
16-May-2019 16:42	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
02-Jan-2021 09:37	Anon.	Updated [Narrative]