Date:	Monday 13 December 1937
Time:	night
Type:	Handley Page Heyford Mk IIA
Owner/operator:	149 Sqn RAF
Registration:	K4039
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Stopham Bridge, near Pulborough, Sussex, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk
Destination airport:	RAF Tangmere, West Sussex
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Handley Page Heyford IA K4039, 149 Squadron, RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk: Written off (destroyed) 13/11/37 when flew into ground at night, at Stopham Bridge, near Pulborough, Sussex. All four crew on board were killed:

Pilot Officer Andrew Aitken (aged 23)
Sgt Duncan Robert Francis Ross (aged 21)
Corporal John Bennett (aged 27)
LAC William Lemuel Sillince (aged 31)

According to a contemporary newspaper report on the inquest into the deaths of the four crew ("Aberdeen Journal" Thursday 16 December 1937):

"100 MILES OFF THEIR COURSE
FOUR VICTIMS OF BOMBER CRASH

A statement that an R.A.F. bomber was 100 miles off its course when it crashed and burst into flames during a rainstorm at Stopham, near Pulborough, Sussex, was made last night at the inquest on the four victims.

They were: Pilot-Officer Andrew Aitken (23), of Ralphs Court, Queens Road, Bayswater; Sgt Duncan Robert Francis Ross (21), of Cadboll Road, Invergorden, Ross-Shire; Corporal John Bennett, The Kangaroo, Little Stroughton, Beds; and Willian Lemnal Sellince (31), Leading Aircraftman, No 4 Married Quarters, R.A.F. Mildenhall.

All were stationed at R.A.F. Mildenhall.

The machine, a Heyford heavy night bomber, burned so fiercely after the crash that it was almost impossible to identify the bodies.

Squadron Leader V. D. Morshead, of Mildenhall, told the Coroner that the aircraft was on a cross-country flight, and that the occupants had instructions to signal every quarter hour. "The last signal was received at 6.38 pm" he said "They were 100 miles off their course, and having got lost were were probably making for the south coast and the aerodrome at Tangmere.

Verdicts of 'Accidental Death' were returned."

Having looked at the newspaper archives for the dates in question it would appear that the weather in the south of England was appalling. There was torrential rain, snow showers, sleet and high winds. The rescue efforts appear to have been hampered by flooded brooks and streams.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976 page 30)
2. Chichester Observer - Wednesday 15 December 1937
3. Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette - Tuesday 14 December 1937
4. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1937.htm
5. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=10884.0;wap2
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/05532.php

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
08-Mar-2018 23:05	Dr. John Smith	Added
17-Oct-2018 17:53	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]