ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 213643
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| Date: | Friday 18 April 1941 |
| Time: | 04:34 LT |
| Type: | Handley Page Hampden Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 50 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | AD730 |
| MSN: | VN-C |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Black Hill, near Lacken, Blessington, Co Wicklow -
 Ireland
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Lindholme, North Yorkshire |
| RAF Lindholme |
17/18 April 1941-
BERLIN
Seven aircraft departed RAF Lindholme, North Yorkshire around 20.15 hrs (Target: Berlin). Only two aircraft found and bombed the target with three more bombing the alternate targets. One aircraft returned with a u/s gyro-horizon and VSI (Visual Speed Indicator). Two aircraft reported tangling with Bf 109 night-fighters with AD728 claiming one ‘damaged’.
Other aircraft reported difficulties in navigating the return leg. Hampden AD730* went missing on the return leg, later being found having crashed at Blessington, County Wicklow, Ireland.
It is likely the crew became lost, despite a positional fix being transmitted to the aircraft while near Watton (Suffolk). Failure of radio equipment due to technical or atmospheric problems is also likely. Crew comprised of
Wop/Air Gunner: 553897 Sgt. Frederick Henry Erdwin RAF - KIA
Navigator; 754628 Sgt. John Thompson Lamb - KIA
WOp/Air Gunner; 751744 Sgt. Stanley Wright RAFVR - KIA,
Pilot: 83253 Pilot Officer John Kenneth Hill RAFVR - KIA
The crash site is more accurately Black Hill, Lacken near Blessington. The area in which the aircraft crashed was remote and boggy, with searchers finding the remains of all four crew near the highly fragmented aircraft some two days after the crash. These airmen are buried side by side in Blessington (St. Mary) Church Of Ireland Churchyard,Co. Wicklow, Ireland. In April 1991 a memorial column inscribed with the names of the four RAF crew who died was erected close to the crash site on Black Hill.
NOTE: *The ORB lists the crew as taking off in Hampden AD853 however the aircraft was certainly AD730; errors in the ORB were not uncommon.
Sources:
1. http://www.no-50-and-no-61-squadrons-association.co.uk/app/download/5802508903/50+SQUADRON+ORB+1939+1943+Revision+1.pdf
2. https://www.geograph.ie/photo/5029978
3. http://www.countywicklowheritage.org/page_id__191.aspx
4. www.ww2irishaviation.com/ad730.htm
5. 50 Squadron RAF ORB (Air Ministry Form 540): http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2503123
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2701794/erdwin,-frederick-henry/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2701796/lamb,-john-thompson/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2701797/wright,-stanley/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2701795/hill,-john-kenneth/
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 30 September 1940 | P4395 | 50 Sqn RAF | 0 | RAF Bircham Newton, near Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England |  |
w/o |
| 26 March 1942 | AT118 | 50 Sqn RAF | 0 | Roswidney Farm, Ludgvan 1.5 miles NE of Crowlas Police House | |
w/o |
| Fuel starvation | ||||||
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Jul-2018 23:34 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 12-Nov-2018 20:26 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator] |
| 04-Jan-2019 07:27 | dp_burke | Updated [Source] |
| 31-Jan-2019 08:30 | Anon. | Updated [Source] |
| 16-Nov-2022 07:17 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
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