ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 193357
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| Date: | Tuesday 12 December 1944 |
| Time: | 13:00 |
| Type: |  Handley Page Halifax Mk V |
| Owner/operator: | 1664 HCU RAF |
| Registration: | LL541 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 8 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Elan Valley, Mid Wales -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Dishford |
| Return. |
Loss of control leading to structural failure:
P/O G.L Lister (J/90220) RCAF
F/O E.H Brautigam (J/40697) RCAF
F/Sgt D.Levine (R/85078) RCAF
F/Sgt J.H Preece (R/184114) RCAF
Sgt F.Willmek (R/168352) RCAF
Sgt J.S Overland (R/270919) RCAF
Sgt G.G Goehring (R/204000) RCAF
Sgt A.F McMurtry (R/250838) RCAF
Anniversary of air incidents of everything south of 52* 37’N and west of 3* 11’W (Wales).
Number: 203.
Date: 22nd August 1942.
Location: Pen-y-Bwlch.
Aircraft: H.P. Halifax B MkV LL541 ‘ZU-O’
Squadron: 1664 HCU.
From: RAF Dishforth.
Mission: Training.
Details:
RAF Dishforth was an RAF airfield near to Ripon in North Yorkshire. Opened in 1936, the base was used as a bomber airfield during WW2 with both British and Canadian squadrons flying missions from the airfield. Many squadrons and units operated from here, including 1664 HCU. With the introduction of new heavy bombers, the four-engine Short Stirling, Avro Lancaster and Handley Paige Halifax, the Royal Air Force introduced heavy conversion units (HCU). These HCUs began forming in late 1941, to qualify crews trained on medium bombers to operate the heavy bombers before final posting to the operational squadrons. Some of the HCUs were involved in bombing operations over Germany. Crews who came here were mostly experienced aircrew with missions over enemy territory under their belts and it was only a simple case of training on a new aircraft eg. Converting from the Stirling over to the Lancaster! The crews were expected to know how to fly and operate as a crew. There were occasions when a recently qualified crew were posted to a heavy bomber squadron from previously flying the Wellington or Blenheim, now they had to familiarise themselves with gun turrets, hydraulic flying controls and undercarriage, stronger radios and two more engines with all the instruments that came with them, thus giving more workload to the crews.
LL541 was powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlin XX engines which was to become the first major version to incorporate changes brought about through experience in operational service. It was designed to run on 100-octaine fuel. Resulting in increased power at higher altitudes than previous versions, but still, the ‘Hallibag’ still could not fly at the same height as it’s stablemate, the Lancaster. The armament was the same as the B.III. with a transparent nose dome with single machine gun, Boulton Paul dorsal turret with four guns and tail turret with four guns. 904 mark V’s were produced.
One other training rolls the HCU’s practiced was flying in formation with aircraft of the same type, mimicking the flying characteristics of the Halifax in a ‘Bomber formation’. LL541 along with another Hallibag ZU-K, hade taken off from Dishforth at 10:10hrs. The day was dry with light cloud and a slight westerly. Their tasking was to fly a route southwest over the high ground of Mid Wales to the Irish Sea then return. However, at 13:00hrs and flying over Wales at 18,000 feet. It was observed by the mid upper gunner of ‘ZU-K’, that LL541 ‘ZU-O’ which was flying behind, suddenly dropped as if conducting a ‘Corkscrew’ manoeuvre, then it was seen to go almost vertical before starting to recover about 3,000 feet below. ‘O’ was then seen to dive and entering cloud then becoming unseen and contact lost. Meanwhile on the ground below, a member of the ROC a Mr T Price saw LL541 coming out of the cloud at approximately 3,000 feet over the high ground just north of the market town of Rhyader. Also observed, the aircraft was shedding large pieces and it was obvious that it was disintegrating in the air and doomed to come down on top of Pen-y-Bwlch, what wasn’t seen was any evidence of the crew bailing out! Mr Price made the authorities aware of the crash and started the process of finding the doomed crew. The rescue party arrived at the huge area of shattered aircraft observing several different impact points in addition to the main. The crew were also amongst the remains and in a horrific state, all the recovery crews could do was to find as much as they could and cover the remains under anything that came to hand. It took a week to bring down the crew along with anything sensitive such as radios and the like.
Crew:
P/O Gerald Lawrence Lister 22yo J/40697 RCAF. Pilot. Killed. 1
Son of Odbur Earle Lister and Katherine Florence Lister of Amherst, Nova Scotia.
F/O Ernest Henry Brautigam 19yo J/40697 RCAF. Nav’. Killed. 2
Son of Henry Richard and Edna Brautigam; grandson of A.J. Milton and Sarah Milton of upper Capilano, British Columbia.
F/Sgt David Levine 23yo R/85078 RCAF. Bdr’. Killed. 3
Son of Benjamin and Bella Levine of Swift Current, Saskatchewan.
F/Sgt James Harold Preece 20yo R/184114 RCAF. W/Op. Killed. 4
Son of James N. Preece and Rosina Preece; husband of Glenna E. Preece of Ferris, Ontario.
Sgt Frank Willmek 23yo R/168352 RCAF. Ft/Engr. Killed. 5
Son of Mike and Mary Willmek of Mondou, Saskatchewan.
Sgt Allan Fairbairn McMurtry 22yo R/250838 RCAF. Ft/Engr (Extra). Killed. 6
Son of Clarence and Vera McMurtry of Winnipeg, Minitoba.
Sgt John Sven Overland 19yo R/270919 RCAF. A/Gnr. Killed. 7
Son of Olav and Gunhild Overland of Preeceville, Saskatchewan.
Sgt Gordon Grant Goehring 21yo R/204000 RCAF. A/Gnr. Killed. 8
Son of Edward and Donalda L. Goehring of Regina, Saskatchewan.
Buried:
1 Chester (Blacon) Cemetery. Section A. Grave 27c.
2 Chester (Blacon) Cemetery. Section A. Grave 755.
3 Chester (Blacon) Cemetery. Section A. Grave 935.
4 Chester (Blacon) Cemetery. Section A. Grave 845.
5 Chester (Blacon) Cemetery. Section A. Grave 1026.
6 Chester (Blacon) Cemetery. Section A. Grave 186.
7 Chester (Blacon) Cemetery. Section A. Grave 272.
8 Chester (Blacon) Cemetery. Section A. Grave 100.
Wreckage:
On the FM1180 the findings read.
“It is not deduced what caused the accident. One probable cause was that the pilot at first may have suffered from Oxygen starvation, allowing the A/C to become erratic in its climb and dive. Then either he or another member of the crew to regain control. But the over stressed airframe simply failed”.
On the hilltop there is a large scar with fragments within, then there is other locations with a fair amount of wreckage remaining at each. However, over the passing of time, recovery officially or OTHER, the larger pieces have gone.
Memorials:
Canadian Virtual Memorial at Toronto.
CWGC Headstones.
Sources:
Down in Wales - Terrance R Hill
www.rafcommands.com
www.rafweb.org
www.canadianfallen.ca
www.canadianvirtualwarmemorial.ca
www.cwgc.com
Images:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Feb-2017 07:32 | ORD | Added |
| 02-Nov-2018 18:29 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Nature, Damage, Operator] |
| 19-Jul-2022 05:14 | Davies 62 | Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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