Date:	Wednesday 15 April 1942
Time:	day
Type:	Westland Lysander Mk IIIA
Owner/operator:	7 AGS RAF
Registration:	V9793
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Cwm Wernderi, Goytre, Blue Pool valley, Wales -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Stormy Down, Port Talbot, South Wales
Destination airport:	Return.

Narrative:
V9793 was built as a target tug and assigned to 7 AGS (Air Gunnery School) RAF Stormy Down, Port Talbot, South Wales. On 15th April 1942 it hit 30,000 volt overhead HT wires at Cwm Wernderi, Goytre, Blue Pool valley, and crashed. The Lysander fell into the woods below and started a fire. Both crew were killed:

Sgt Witold Starszy Szeregowiec Bluczynski (pilot, Polish Air Force, Service Number P/782721, aged 21)
AC.1 David Hocknull (W/Op/Air Gunner Killed) (Service Number 1119809, aged 25); Buried Glasgow (Craigton) Cemetery, Sec. H.H. Grave 734.


Details:
This aircraft was built at the Westland works at Yeovil as part of 347 MkIIIA’s built as Target Towing type. There were 17 more units built at the shadow factory at Doncaster. The difference with the TT type was it had the rear gun removed and attachments for Drogue Targets and the Winch in the rear section, the gunners seat remained where the winch operator sat. V9793 was assigned to 7 Air Gunnery School straight off the production line.
On the 15th of April 1942, she was on towing duties when it appears that the pilot was flying too low when flying out to the training area of the Margam Ranges. They flew up and over the hills above the ranges and dropped down into the Goytre Valley flying at around 200 feet when they hit 30,000-volt HT wires stretching across the valley at Cwm Wernderi, then crashing into the hardwood forest 40 yards from the broken wires it struck where it burst into flames. The two crew members were killed instantly. The incident caused a power cut in all the Cwmafon and Bryn districts for over a week before power was restored.
Crew:
Sgt Witold Starszy Szeregowiec Bluczynski 21yo P/782721 (Polish) RAF. Pilot. Killed. (@).
Ac.1 David Hocknull 25yo 1119809 RAFVR. Winch Op’. Killed. (#).

Buried:
(@) Porthcawl cemetery. War graces group service. Block 4. Row H. Grave NR1.
(#) Glasgow (Craigton) Cemetery. Section H. Grave 734.

Wreckage:
Quite a lot of small fragments lay above and below the forest floor litter with two large identifiable pieces remain.

Additional Information:
Above on the hillside, a High-Tension pylon remains of the original network when V9793 hit. When the Electricity board upgraded the wires, the original run bovver the valley was abandoned, and new pylons were run further down the valley. All the old pylons were removed bar the one on top of the hill above the crash site which still stands as a lasting memorial to the two crew.

1. Air Ministry Form AM 1180 Accident Card for Lysander V9793
2. Halley, J J, 1983, Royal Air Force Aircraft V1000-V9999, W1000-W9999, p. 53.
3. http://www.ggat.org.uk/timeline/pdf/Military%20Aircraft%20Crash%20Sites%20in%20Southeast%20Wales.pdf
4. http://www.polishwargraves.nl/brit/4429.htm
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/7503246/bluczynski,-witold/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2452790/hocknull,-david/
7. http://poszukiwacze.org/poszukiwacze-z-phec-thesaurus-odnalezli-wrak-samolotu-polskiego-pilota/
www.rafcommands.com
aircrewremembered.com
find-a-grave.com

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
14-May-2019 21:20	Dr. John Smith	Added
14-May-2019 21:23	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
30-May-2019 15:45	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
18-Mar-2022 16:38	Davies 62	Updated [Nature, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category]