Date:	Monday 22 May 1944
Time:	day
Type:	Handley Page Halifax Mk III
Owner/operator:	51 Sqn RAF
Registration:	LK835
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 7
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	West of Whistle Road, Waun Avon, near Blaenavon, Monmouthshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Snaith, North Yorkshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
This Halifax was assigned to 51 Squadron based at Snaith in North Yorkshire. On 22nd May 1944, the aircraft was undertaking a cross-country training flight when the starboard inner engine became uncontrollable. The crew baled out safely, and the aircraft crashed into a peat bog at Waun Afon, west of of Whistle Road, (and south of the B4248 Garn Road) Waun-Mary-Gunter-Farm, near Blaenavon, Monmouthshire, Wales, at around 420 metres. A large amount of wreckage remains to this day inside an area fenced to define the limits of a dangerous peat bog. It is alleged that substantial elements of airframe could still be seen at the location 2011-2012 though these have since been removed by persons or person unknown. All seven crew successfully parachuted to safety:

Sgt A.S 'Bob' Jones (pilot)
Sgt D.Bibby (navigator)
Sgt E.W.J Luff (Wireless Op/Air Gunner)
Sgt J.Brown (Flight Engineer)
Sgt T.Minns (Air Gunner)
Flying Officer G.Cowd (Bomb Aimer)
Sgt A.G Westbrook (Air Gunner)

According to one published source: "The Halifax journeyed over England and on into Wales, the crew attentive to their duties. Whilst flying at 20,000 feet the propellor of the starboard inner engine suddenly went into "fine pitch" due probably to an oil leak. The revolution counter ceased to work and the engine became "white hot", as a result of which it went on fire. By this time, Sergeant Jones was finding the aircraft more difficult to control, and instructed the wireless operator to send the distress signal "Darky".

The signal met with no response, possibly due to the aircraft flying over mountainous terrain. The final seconds of the aircraft's flight were seen by the surface workers at Kay Slope Drift Mine, who raced to the peat bog hoping that the crew had managed to escape from the aircraft which by now was totally engulfed in flames.

Recovery of the aircraft was made difficult, as the thin crust of the bog barely supported the weight of a man. The recovery team used winches to drag off what they could, and this was later loaded onto low loaders and taken away."

1. Brecon Beacons National Park, 1995, Identification Guide Aircraft Crashes in the National Park, ID 19
2. Doylerush, E. 2008, Rocks in the Clouds: High Ground Aircraft Crashes of South Wales, p.78-81.
3. http://www.ggat.org.uk/timeline/pdf/Military%20Aircraft%20Crash%20Sites%20in%20Southeast%20Wales.pdf
4. https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/507044/details/handley-page-halifax-lk835
5. https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/more-plane-wrecks-in-and-around-the-brecon-beacons-june-and-july-2018.113886/
6. https://en-gb.facebook.com/groups/166049960740995/permalink/232282880784369/
7. https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/engine-remains-halifax-bomber-lk835-417923983

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Feb-2017 08:26	ORD	Added
06-Nov-2018 18:39	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
16-May-2019 17:47	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
18-May-2019 12:13	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
19-May-2019 06:18	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
02-Oct-2020 09:07	TigerTimon	Updated [Date]