ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 24824
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| Date: | Thursday 21 January 1943 |
| Time: | 22:50 |
| Type: |  Lockheed Hudson Mk III 'OS-F' |
| Owner/operator: | 279 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | V9046 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Beguildy, Wales -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF St Eval |
| RAF St Eval |
On 21 January 1943 two aircraft of 279 Sqn RAF were out on patrol from St Eval airfield when the weather closed in. One of the pilot, Sgt Oakes, managed to land back at base with some difficulty, but the other, Sqn Ldr Mossford, found on returning to the base that poor visibility precluded a landing and had the misfortune to suffer W/T and R/T failure. He decided to head for the coast of south Wales, where the order to bale out was given as there was no improvement in the conditions. The while crew came down near Swansea, one landing in the sea and having to swin ashore.
Their Hudson III V9046 -F flew on automatic pilot flew on for a further 60 miles before finally crashing into Warren Hill, near Maes Gwyn Farm at Beguildy in Radnorshire. The farmer rushed to the scene expecting to find the bodies of the crew and could find no trace of them. Time of crash is given by one source as "early evening" and by another as "about eleven o’clock" (2300 hrs?).
V9046 had been allocated to 279 Sqn on 23 November 1941 and was damaged beyond repair.
Crew: Sqn/Ldr Mossford, Sgt J.A Wiseman, Sgt H.C Macklin, Sgt H.Hudson
Details:
No 279 Squadron was formed at RAF Bircham Newton on the 16th of November 1941. Equipped with the Lockheed Hudson fitted, from 1943, to carry the MkI Airbourne Lifeboat. Detachments of the squadron were stationed at several RAF stations in the south-west of England and Wales between April 1942 and December 1943 to provide an air-sea rescue capability over the Bay of Biscay and the Western Approaches.
Although never in the forefront of wartime publicity the Hudson can nevertheless claim an impressive list of firsts including:
The first Allied aircraft to shoot down an enemy while operating from the British Isles.
The first aircraft to capture a U-boat. U-570 surrendered to a No.269 Squadron Hudson on the 27th of August 1941.
The first aircraft equipped to carry airborne lifeboats for air sea rescue duties.
A detachment of 279 squadron was flying from RAF St Eval on the Northwest coast of Cornwall and on the 21st of January five Hudsons had been tasked on rescue patrols with two, ‘OS-F & OS-Q’ being detailed on search and rescue of a Sunderland and her crew Southwest of the Scilly Isles. The weather turned bad and only Hudson ‘Q’ had managed with some difficulty to make it back to base. Having failed to find the missing Sunderland crew, which had ditched in the sea west of the isle of Ushant off the north-west French coast, Sqn/Ldr Mossford, the pilot of ‘F’ found that conditions were so poor on his return to base that it was impossible to land. In the end, he headed for the South Wales coast and over Swansea, ordered the crew to bail out once it was reached, all did so successfully with the crew landing around the bay of Caswell, one coming down in the sea and two on the headland. The aircraft continued for about 100 km until it ran out of fuel and crashed into Warren Hill, near Beguildy.
The squadron records:
“17:21hrs, 2 x A/C ‘Q’ & ‘F’ take off on search 100 miles SW of Scillies, weather conditions became very poor. One A/C landed at base after some difficulty but the second failed to do so owing to W/T & R/T failure, crew of second A/C baled out successfully near Swansea, South Wales”.
The squadron detailed report reads:
“21-1-43 Hudson ‘F’ S/Ldr Mossford H. G. Pilot.
Sgt Wiseman J. A. Nav’.
Sgt Hudson H. Wo/Ag.
Sgt Macklin H. O. Ag.
17:21hrs. Took off from St Eval and carried out search over area 100 miles SW of Scillies. On return to base W/Op failed to make W/T control of Scillies & S/E failed to locate beacon in this position. Distances given by S/E were obviously inaccurate making it impossible to establish position. Flying control at St Eval made every effort to contact A/C but R/T & W/T without success. Pilot gave the order to bale out at 22:25hrs. All crew landed safely near Swansea. A/C flew on, on a N.E. course after crew had baled out and had crashed into a hill in Radnorshire, approximately 60 miles inland.”
V9046 had actually hit the rising southern slope of Warren hill 100 yards above Maes Gwyn farm with a loud crash but no fire, chiefly because the fuel had run out. The farmer, who had just finished the day and was settling down in front of the fire along with his wife, when suddenly there was a loud crash outside. Hearing the noise he ran outside but nothing could be seen, but he could smell the heat and disturbed soil. Knowing something had occurred above his farm he grabbed a yard light and ascended, expecting to see the worse, he was shocked to find no trace of the crew. The only noise now was of the weather and the gentle ticking of the destroyed engines, he went back down to his farm and raised the alarm, the time he noted was eleven o’clock.
The following day, rescue crews arrived and quickly determined the wreck was devoid of crew and it was established it was the missing Hudson.
Crew:
S/Ldr Herbert Geoffrey Mossford (MiD) 37911 RAF. Pilot. Uninjured.
Sgt J. A. Wiseman RAFVR. Nav’. Uninjured.
Sgt H. Hudson RAFVR. W/Op/Ag. Uninjured.
Sgt H. O. Macklin RAF. A/G. Uninjured.
Wreckage:
All easily recovered but some fragments remain, but are extremely difficult to find. It is on common grazing land but access over farmers’ fields is vital!!
Additional Information:
Howard Mossford received a MiD on the 20th of February 1940 and survived the war, receiving a promotion to Wing Commander, Gazetted on the 1st of July 1946.
Airborne lifeboats were powered lifeboats that were made to be dropped by fixed wing aircraft into water to aid in air-sea-rescue operations. An airborne lifeboat was to be carried by a medium to large bomber, specially modified to handle the external load of the lifeboat. The airborne lifeboat was intended to be dropped by parachute to land within reach of the survivors of an accident on the water.
The first air-dropped lifeboat was British, a 32-foot wooden canoe-shaped boat designed in 1943 by Uffa Fox to be dropped by RAF Hudson for the rescue of aircrew downed in the English Channel. The lifeboat was dropped from a height of 700 feet, and its descent to the water was slowed by six parachutes. It was balanced so that it would right itself. When it hit the water, the parachutes were jettisoned, and rockets launched 300 ft lifelines.
Sources:
"Dinghy Drop: 279 Squadron at War 1941-1946", by Tom Docherty. ISBN 978-1-84115-482-1
http://www.cpat.org.uk/resource/reports/cpat1249.pdf
https://powysenc.weebly.com/brydges---builth.html
http://www.baaa-acro.com/Fiches%20d’accidents/1943/V9046.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beguildy
http://www.ancientmonuments.info/wa3952-warren-hill-round-barrow/osmap (showing the location of Maes Gwyn Farm)
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
www.rafcommands.com
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Sep-2008 01:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 21-Jan-2016 16:55 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 06-Feb-2017 20:21 | ORD | Updated [Operator, Narrative] |
| 29-Dec-2017 17:42 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport] |
| 16-Feb-2018 18:23 | Nepa | Updated [Operator] |
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