ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 247875
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| Date: | Thursday 30 May 1940 |
| Time: | 12:16 |
| Type: | Miles Master Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 15 SFTS RAF |
| Registration: | N7706 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Portsmouth Road, Fisher's Pond, Colden Common, Eastleigh, Hampshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Middle Wallop, Hampshire |
Master N7706: Crashed under unknown circumstances. Elevators failed, spun in from cloud at Portsmouth Road, Fisher's Pond, Colden Common, Eastleigh, Hampshire at 12:16 hrs 30/05/1940
Crew:
P/O Oliver Powell CROOM-JOHNSON (pilot, Service number 91109) RAFVR killed. Buried at St. Peter's Churchyard, Over Wallop, Hampshire. According to the CWGC records, the pilot was on secondment from 611 (West Lancashire) Squadron, RAF
According to a local newspaper article (Andover Advertiser 16th February 2021)
"RECENT investigations have solved a mystery plane crash that occurred 80 years ago near Fisher’s Pond, Colden Common. It was long thought to involve a German fighter with wreckage still lying at the bottom of the pond.
But a new investigation by a museum curator has come up with a completely different story. It turns out that it was in fact a British training aircraft which crashed near the pond after losing a flap and climbing vertically out of control. The pilot, who died in the crash, was in the process of obtaining his wings two months before the Battle of Britain.
The sleuthing has been done by former Observer Lieutenant Neville Cullingford, who served for many years in the Royal Observer Corps and is now Honorary Curator of its Museum. Outlining his discoveries, he said: “I’ve always been fascinated by the story about the crash, which was thought to involve an enemy aircraft, as reported in the Echo in 1972. I started to ask local residents who had lived in the area during WWII if they had any recollections of this fighter crashing into Fisher’s Pond.
“One account concerned a crash of a Typhoon fighter-bomber at the foot of Crowd Hill near Foulis Court – very close to the pond but not fitting the circumstances. There was also a report of a barrage balloon which landed in the field by the chapel on Pyle Hill, Fair Oak, causing a Hurricane fighter to catch its wing on the balloon cable.
“Several people mentioned two V1 flying bombs that had fallen locally, one within 100 yards of what was then the Clock Inn and the other in Stoke Park Woods. Others mentioned the story – to this day unconfirmed – that spies had been flown from the airfield at Marwell at night, to be dropped off in Occupied Europe. And one had heard of a Tiger Moth – a training plane – that had crashed in Fisher’s Pond – a far cry from a German fighter, but a promising lead.”
Neville’s ROC knowledge led him to the 70 or more WWII message logbooks now in the Hampshire Record Office (ref. 36M96). They were “miraculously saved from destruction during the postwar salvage drive”. He trawled through thousands of routine messages jotted down by observers from September 1939.
The first clue was a message taken at 12:16 hours on May 30, 1940. It spoke of “a Spitfire crashing near Twyford” and indeed the Police confirmed that a plane “had crashed in flames near Freasons Farm” on the road between Twyford and Colden Common. In the confusion, another message suggested it might be a captured Messerschmitt 109 which was being test flown in the area.
The real situation became clear in a message from Twyford Police. It reported a smouldering wreck by the side of Portsmouth Road near Fisher’s Pond, with a body and a parachute. Wreckage strewn around was so damaged that the plane could not be identified, other than saying it was yellow.
The full record was in a message written by Duty Controller Arthur H. Vear more than five hours after the original report. It revealed that RAF Middle Wallop had lost a training aircraft, a Miles Master Mk.1, serial number N7706. The plane was burnt-out and Acting Pilot Officer Oliver Powell Croom-Johnson killed.
Neville later obtained first-hand evidence of the event from work colleague John Pearce, who had lived as a child in the Queens Head public house on the Portsmouth Road (now closed). He said: “John told me he remembered looking out of the bathroom window and seeing a plane spinning down with pieces fluttering down behind it. Later the pilot’s body had been brought to the Queens Head and laid out in the parlour, awaiting collection. John confirmed that the wreckage had been cleared away and its RR Kestrel engine excavated from the soft earth by the pond.”
The pilot was a married man, aged 27, serving in 611 Squadron of the Auxiliary Air Force. He had been commissioned “on probation” the previous year and was older than many pilots. He was probably being trained for what became the Battle of Britain. He was the second son of the Hon. Sir Reginald Croom-Johnson, who was in his first year as a judge in the King’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice.
Oliver Croom-Johnson is buried in the churchyard of St Peter’s church, Over Wallop. A memorial inside reads: “He gave up everything for the defence of his country”. He is also is also memorialised at Holford in Somerset, the home county of his mother, Lady Ruby Croom-Johnson".
Sources:
1. https://www.andoveradvertiser.co.uk/news/regional/winchester/19092142.feature-barry-shurlock-colden-common-plane-crash-70-years-ago/
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR81/2185: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16471615
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2439048/oliver-powell-croom-johnson/
4. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=19352.0
5. https://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/hancrash.html
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=65551
7. Memorial to pilot, St. Peter's Church, Over Wallop, Hampshire: https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/40606
8. https://vymaps.com/GB/Fishers-Pond-861571343887130/
Media:
PO O P Croom-Johnson RAF © Mark Newton 7 May 2016 (WMR-40606) Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 16-Feb-2021 07:48 | gerard57 | Added |
| 24-Jul-2022 09:06 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Operator] |
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