ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 22234
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Wednesday 6 November 1940 |
| Time: | 08:00 |
| Type: |  Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk V |
| Owner/operator: | 77 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | T4151 |
| MSN: | KN-N |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 8 miles east of North Shields, Northumberland -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Tholthorpe, Newmarket, Suffolk |
Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk V standard heavy night bomber; 1 of a batch of 150 delivered between August and December 1940 to Contract No. 38599/39]. Ditched short of fuel and with radio u/s 8 miles E of North Shields, Northumberland, 6.11.1940 on return from Turin.
Wednesday 6th November 1940, 08:00 hours. Whitley ditched at 19:10 hours the previous evening. Pilot Officer H.H. Miller in Whitley Mk V T4151 'KN-N', together with 7 other aircraft of 77 Squadron, had taken off from RAF Tholthorpe, Newmarket, Suffolk, to attack the Fiat Motor Works at Turin, Italy. All aircraft encountered severe icing conditions, 7 returning to base with their bombs intact as they found it impossible to gain enough height to cross the Alps. Pilot Officer Miller and his crew reached the target with great difficulty and bombed the factory.
On the return journey after almost 13 hours in the air, they were short of fuel, their wireless was unserviceable, and they were uncertain of their position. Thinking they had missed the English coastline and were flying out into the open sea, they decided to ditch near a ship which they had sighted near a gap in the clouds. It was when they were picked up by the crew of a local steamer and brought to safety, that they realised the aircraft had ditched just 8 miles east of North Shields, Northumberland
Sgt D H Gilbert pilot ok
Pilot Officer Hayden Hugh Miller pilot ok
Sgt Thorpe observer ok
Sgt Hurlston wireless operator ok
Sgt Bingham air gunner ok
Two crankshafts and prop hubs, believed to be from this aircraft, were recovered by a fishing boat. One is now on show in the Bamburgh Castle Aviation Artefacts Museum.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft T1000-V9999 (James J. Halley, Air britain, 1997)
2. Derek Walton 1999 Northumberland Aviation Diary: Aviation Incidents from 1790 to 1999
3. http://www.nelsam.org.uk/NEAR/Losses/Losses-WWII1939-40.htm
4. http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1351763
5. https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/air-force-operations/airplanes-allies-and-axis-lost/whitley/24515-T41511940-11-06.html
6. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-armstrong-whitworth-aw38-whitley-v-tynemouth
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 15 August 1940 | P5053 | 77 Sqn RAF | 0 | RAF Driffield, East Yorkshire, England | |
w/o |
| 7 July 1941 | Z6642 | 77 Sqn RAF | 0 | Epe, Gelderland |  |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-Aug-2008 10:23 | Anon. | Added |
| 09-May-2013 06:39 | Nepa | Updated [Time, Operator, Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 11-Feb-2018 03:04 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Cn, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation