Date:	Thursday 14 March 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Avro Lancaster B Mk X
Owner/operator:	C(A) MoS/Rolls-Royce
Registration:	KB705
MSN:	37006
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Brownshill, Bussage, Chalford, 4 miles SE of Stroud, Gloucestershire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	RAF Aston Down, Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
The very first No. 428 Squadron Canadian constructed Lancaster Mk. X [KB705] aircraft landed at Middleton St. George on 25 May 1944, and the complete squadron turned out to inspect this new RCAF bomber. The next day, ground instruction began in preparation for conversion from the Halifax Mk. II aircraft to the Lancaster Mk. X, and by the end of May, No. 428 had on charge 19 Halifax Mk. IIs and 3 new Canadian built Lancaster Mk. X aircraft. [KB705, KB709, and KB725]

In early June 1944, aircrew conversion training for the Lancaster began and by the 14th of the month seven aircrew had been fully trained to operate this new Canadian bomber [coded "NA-F"]. One of 7 aircraft from this unit that the flew the first RCAF mission in Canadian built Lancasters, a raid on St. Pol, France on 14/15 July 1944 (6th out of 7 in formation). 428 Squadron's last mission was on 25 April 1945, when 15 Lancaster B. Mk. X’s from Middleton St. George bombed gun positions on the Island of Wangerooge. Later used by No. 1666 Heavy Conversion Unit (from June 1945). Survived the war, retained in the UK for test work with Rolls Royce

Written off (damaged beyond repair) on a test flight out of Aston Down on the 14th March 1946 and crashed into the Templewood Nursing Home at Brownshill, Bussage near Chalford, four miles south east Stroud in Gloucestershire, killing the 2 crew of Pilot, Squadron Leader Reginald "Reg" Heber Thomas and the Flight Engineer Flight Sergeant Ronald Lester Gray. While climbing, the aircraft suffered a simultaneous failure of all four engines. The crew, who was completing a training mission, attempted to make an emergency landing but the aircraft stalled and crashed.

Reginald "Reg" Heber Thomas AFC (11 January 1907 – 14 March 1946) was a Welsh middle-distance runner. He competed at the 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympics and the 1930 British Empire Games. He missed the 1936 Summer Olympics because of injury, and did not compete in the 1934 British Empire Games for Wales, because of English objections. At both Olympics he was eliminated in the first round of the 1500 metres event. At the 1930 Empire Games he won the gold medal in the mile and the silver medal in the 880 yards race. He could not compete for Wales because Wales did not have a national athletics association at the time. Welsh track and field athletes could only compete for England in 1930 although Welsh swimmers did compete for their home nation.

On 8 June 1944 Thomas, now a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, was awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC).

By 1946 he was a squadron leader and pilot in the Royal Air Force when he was killed piloting an Avro Lancaster bomber on 14 March 1946; after take-off from RAF Aston Down all the engines failed and the bomber crashed into a nursing home at Brownshill, Bussage near Chalford, he was later buried at Haycombe Cemetery in Bath.

Causes: The crew did not prepare the flight properly and did not follow the pre-departure checklist. On rotation, the power switches have been at OFF position, causing all four engines to stop. Struck off charge on 30 May 1946 as Cat. E(FA).

NOTE: The official Air Ministry Accident report (see link #9) gives the crash locations as "Near Chalford, Gloucestershire". Chalford is a large village in the Frome Valley of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. It is to the southeast of Stroud about 4 miles (6.4 km) upstream, at approximate co-ordinates: 51.72383°N 2.14907°W. Brownshill is also in the PARISH of Chalford, so either location is possibly correct.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.34. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft KA100-kZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain,1992, p.8)
3. The Lancaster File (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p 120)
4. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.93
5. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.97: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reg_Thomas_(athlete)
7. http://www.rwrwalker.ca/RAF_owned_JP100.html
8. http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/lancaster-kb705-crash-of-1946.40138/
9. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/28/W2334: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/record?catid=-894736&catln=7
10. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-avro-683-lancaster-x-chalford-2-killed
11. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2691771/thomas,-reginald-heber/
12. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2349705/gray,-ronald-lester/
13. https://athabaskang07.wordpress.com/2015/07/24/the-packard-merlin-rolls-royce-engine-and-avro-canadian-lancaster-bomber/
14. https://www.rcafassociation.ca/heritage/history/rcaf-and-the-crucible-of-war/428-squadron/
15. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=KB705
16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalford

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
23-May-2010 12:11	TB	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Other fatalities, Nature, Damage, Narrative]
09-Oct-2018 22:35	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
09-Oct-2018 22:37	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Location, Narrative]
09-Oct-2018 22:40	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
09-Oct-2018 22:43	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Cn, Source, Narrative]
06-Nov-2019 00:06	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
06-Nov-2019 00:08	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
21-Nov-2019 21:45	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Source, Narrative]
22-Jun-2021 17:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
09-Jul-2023 00:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Location, Source, Narrative]]