ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 22186
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| Date: | Tuesday 11 February 1941 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk V |
| Owner/operator: | 51 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | P4981 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | near Hemsworth, between Barnsley and Pontefract, South Yorkshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Dishforth, North Yorkshire |
| RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire |
On 11th February 1941 this 51 Squadron aircraft took off from RAF Dishforth airfield in North Yorkshire at 18.30 hrs for Ops to Bremen where they attacked from 10,000 feet. The aircraft suffered from having its wireless set fail while on the return trip but after two hours the wireless operator managed to repair it. The weather had closed in over the East and North of England on their return and a number of accidents occurred with many aircraft trying to land after becoming low on fuel. This crew were unable to comply with diversion orders instructing them to go to "DrAm" which was an error for DrEm in Southern Scotland. Because of this error they were unable to find the location on a map.
This crew attempted to land at Linton on Ouse five times but were then instructed to go to Finningley as there was a break in the cloud further south. On their arrival the fog had closed in again and Finningley then ordered them to climb to 5,000ft and bale out. The pilot complied with this order where the crew baled out over the vicinity of Grimethorpe, and the aircraft crashed near Hemsworth, between Barnsley and Pontefract. Three of the crew sustained injuries in bad landings and the rear gunner struck the guns on his exit and sustained injuries both as a result of this and landing in a ditch.
Crew of Whitley P4981:-
Pilot - Sgt Douglas Lawrence Boyer RAFVR (748444), not injured.
Second Pilot - P/O Frank Thompson Flower RAFVR (79541), landed heavily, slightly injured (NCO:1107255 Commission Gazetted : Friday 27 June, 1941)
Observer - Sgt Wilfred Francis Hurst RAFVR (745980), uninjured.
Wireless Operator - Sgt P Radford RAFVR (701939), sprained ankle.
Air Gunner - Sgt J N A James (552114), struck guns on way out and landed heavily.
P/O Frank Flower was killed on 3rd April 1943 while serving with 83 Squadron. Sgt Boyer was made a PoW in April 1941. Sgt Hurst and Sgt James also became PoWs.
Whitley P4981 was built to contract 75147/38 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd at Baginton and was awaiting collection on 3rd May 1940. It was taken on charge by 51 Squadron at Dishforth a few days later when the unit began re-equipping from Mk.IV Whitley's to Mk.V's. On 8th September 1940 it sustained Cat.M/FA damage in a bad landing at Dishforth on 8th September 1940 and was repaired on site and returned to unit. On 12th February 1941 Cat.W/FB damage was sustained following the incident recorded above.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 27)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/5120: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502000
3. http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york41/p4981.html
4 Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-Aug-2008 23:22 | Anon. | Added |
| 04-Feb-2012 08:33 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 29-Jul-2019 21:24 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Source, Narrative] |
| 29-Jul-2019 21:30 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 11-Feb-2024 08:22 | Rob Davis | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
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