Date:	Sunday 31 August 1941
Time:	day
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk I (TT)
Owner/operator:	7 AGS RAF
Registration:	L5637
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Sea off Nash Point, Porthcawl, Glamorgan -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Stormy Down, Port Talbot, South Wales
Destination airport:

Narrative:
This Fairey Battle was built by Austin Motors. Battle L5637s service life included assignments to 6 B & GS from 7th May 1940, 7 B & GS from 24th May 1940, and lastly 7 Air Gunnery School at RAF Stormy Down, Port Talbot, South Wales

On 31st August 1941, While on a target-towing sortie, the aircraft was seen to hit the sea in a steep glide or dive off Nash Point, Porthcawl, with white smoke issuing from it. Engine failure was suspected but the Court of Inquiry decided that the cause was obscure. All three crew on board were killed. According to the ORB for RAF Stormy Down:

"Despite the season this was not the best of months for training at 7 AGS. Heavy rain and mist badly affected flying. On 13 days the programme was late starting or even cancelled. The month ended with a fatal crash. Sgt Naylor in Battle L5657, took LAC Philip Bond and AC.2 F. A. Sullivan from 3 GAS as passengers. There were no survivors after they crashed into the sea"

Crew of Battle L5637
Sergeant Claude Lambert Naylor (pilot)(Service Number 1101204, aged 19) - killed on active service 31/8/1941
AC.2 Frederick Arthur Sullivan (passenger, aged 19)(Service Number 1427747) - killed on active service 31/8/1941
LAC Philip Bond (passenger) (Service Number 1061764) - killed on active service 31/8/1941

Nash Point (Welsh: Trwyn-yr-As) is a headland and beach in the Monknash Coast of the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales, about a mile from Marcross at approximate co ordinates: 51.400863°N 3.552259°W

Battle L5637 was formally Struck Off Charge 30 September 1941, with 354 hours on the airframe.

1. Halley, J J, Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000 to L9999, Air Britain, 1979 p 36.
2. The Battle File (Sidney Shail, Air Britain, 1997 p.156)
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/8742: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16924584
4. http://www.ggat.org.uk/timeline/pdf/Military%20Aircraft%20Crash%20Sites%20in%20Southeast%20Wales.pdf
5. https://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/515461/details/fairey-battle-i-l5637
6. http://www.oldbridlingtonianclub.org.uk/RAF%20OBs%20for%20web%20(002).pdf
7. http://www.ceninrenewables.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Cottrell-1993-Stormy-AirBase.pdf
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1077536/naylor,-claude-lambert/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1808220/sullivan,-frederick-arthur/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1530059/bond,-philip/
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nash_Point

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
19-May-2019 20:02	Dr. John Smith	Added
19-May-2019 20:07	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
30-May-2019 15:44	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
24-Oct-2020 22:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Source, Narrative]
25-Oct-2020 14:37	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Operator]