ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 311221
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| Date: | Monday 10 April 1944 |
| Time: | 18:00 |
| Type: |  Avro Lancaster Mk III |
| Owner/operator: | PFNTU RAF |
| Registration: | JB471 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 8 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Llanwytrd Wells, Berckonshire, Wales -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Warboys, Cambridgeshire |
| Return. |
Lancaster JB471: Took off for training flight /cross-country exercise 10/04/1944
Caught fire in mid-air and crashed, killing all aboard.
Crew:
F/Lt J L Sloper DFC and Bar - killed
W/Cdr J D Green - killed
Sgt S J Warrenger - killed
W/O A P Malzan RCAF - killed
F/Sgt G J B Shields RCAF - killed
Sgt H Johnstone - Killed
Sgt W W Farmer - killed
Sgt J H Clemenson-Passey
Details:
This Lancaster was one of 550 B.III’s delivered to the RAF between June and December 1943 by Avro at Manchester.
The aircraft broke up after the pilot lost control near Llanwrtyd Wells. The crash occurred around 18:00hrs after they entered Cumulonimbus clouds around 4,000feet. The pilot lost control of the aircraft which caused the aircraft brake up in the air, losing the tail section just forward of the Horizontal tailplane, sent the Lancaster into a dive, crashing roughly midway between l,lanwrtyd Wells to the West, and Llangammach Wells to the East, an unclassified road runs only a matter of yards to the South. One of the wheels was flung almost a quarter of a mile away. The main bulk of the Lancaster came down onto boggy ground near the road, whilst the tail unit, including the rear gun turret and its gunner came down closer to Cefngast Farm. Most of the crew were trapped inside as it burst into flames and would-be rescuers could do nothing to assist. All eight-crew died.
The following is taken from the Llangmmach History Society.
Recollections of that day.
Memories fade along with the years, but here are some recollections of that day. At the time of the crash, Mr Alan Davies of Troed y Rhiw Fach Farm, was a Leading Observer on duty at the Royal Observer Corps post at Neuaddau Farm. His colleague observed the plane and alerted him about the crash. Alan caught sight of the tail plane which had detached from the bomber, crashing with the gunner still in the turret. He jumped on his bike and cycled to the crash site near Cefn Gast farm. He was one of the first to arrive and saw the rear tail gunner dead in the turret and another member of the mew up to his shoulders in the bog unfortunately dead too. The remainder of the aircraft was further along past Cefngast farm.
The late John Price remembered hearing an unusual aircraft noise as he stood on the bridge in Llanwrtyd and then heard the noise of a crash. He jumped on his bike and cycled towards Cefngast and came upon the site of the crash. He remembered seeing the dead pilot's body and noted that his watch had stopped at the time of the crash.
In her book, Pearls of Childhood, Vera Gissing, one of the pupils at the Czech school which had been evacuated to the Abernant Hotel recalls, "we heard a plane overhead. This was nothing unusual as there was an American base nearby, (these were likely to have been Piper Cubs of the US Army.) but this plane was flying too low, and the engine didn't sound right. We ran out, heard an explosion, then saw a flash and thick smoke rising. We all started running towards the plane, but the headmaster turned us back, allowing only the senior boys and the teachers to accompany him. They returned several hours later, pale and shaken. A twin-engine Wellington bomber had crashed; there were no survivors. The boys had helped to transport the bodies to the local chapel which was turned into a mortuary”. “The most eerie thing” said one of them, “was that their watches were still ticking!” (It is apparent that the identification of the bomber was incorrect as there were no other crashes in that vicinity during the time that the children were at the Abernant Hotel.)
Crew:
F/Lt John Lambert Sloper DFC & Bar 21yo 147214 RAFVR. Pilot. Killed. 1
Son of Lewis John and Ethel May Sloper of Bournemouth.
W/Co John Dale Green 28yo 33253 RAFVR. 2nd pilot. Killed. 2
Son of Harry Dale Green and Ellen Green; husband of Doris Valerie Green.
WO2 Albert Paul Malzan 30yo R/750 RCAF. Nav’. Killed. 3
Son of Fred and Barbara Malzan; husband of Helen Florence Malzan of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
F/Sgt Gordon James Bayne Shields 28yo R/164713 RCAF. Bdr’. Killed. 4
Son of James Bayne Shields and Grace Gordon Shields of Montreal. Province of Quebec, Canada.
Sgt Stanley Joseph Warrenger 2220811 RAFVR. F/Engr’. Killed. 5
Sgt Henry Johnstone 22yo 1119201 RAFVR. W/Op’. Killed 6.
Son of James and Jeanie Hannah Johnstone of Eastfield, Lanarkshire.
Sgt William Walter Farmer 21yo 1603478 RAFVR. A/Gnr’. Killed. 7
Son of William and Eveline Mary Farmer of Dorney, Buckinghamshire.
Sgt John Harold Cleminson-Passey 23yo 2210186 RAFVR. A/Gnr’. Killed. 8
Son of Violet G. Passey and foster-son of Mr and Mrs A. Cleminson of Widnes.
Buried:
1 Bath (Haycombe) Cemetery. Plot 51. Section H. Row T. Grave 242.
2Golders Green Crematorium. Panel 2.
3 Bath (Haycombe) Cemetery. Plot 51. Section H. Row V. Grave 242.
4 Bath (Haycombe) Cemetery. Plot 51. Section H. Row S. Grave 242.
5 Bath (Haycombe) Cemetery. Plot 51. Section H. Row Q. Grave 242.
6 Whitburn Cemetery. Old part. Grave K. 133.
7 Bath (Haycombe) Cemetery. Plot 51. Section H. Row R. Grave 242.
8 Widnes Cemetery. Section 7C. Grave 3139.
Memorials:
Their memorial is in St Cammarch Church, to the right of the altar.
CWGC Headstones.
Additional Information:
RAF Warboys.
The construction of Warboys began in 1940. The airfield was built to relieve the congestion at RAF Upwood for the use of No.17 OTU with Bristol Blenheims. The completion of barbed wire around strategic areas, and three AA gun positions with one Vickers gun, were almost finished by 17 May.
The first fully operational squadron to arrive at Warboys was 156 squadron on the 5th of August 1942. The squadron came from RAF Alconbury with the Vickers Wellington; in the new year it re-equipped with Lancasters.
Pathfinders.
The Pathfinders were target-marking squadrons in within RAF Bomber Command. They located and marked targets with flares (known as the T.I. Target Identifiers) at which the main bomber force could aim, increasing the accuracy of their bombing. The Pathfinders were normally the first to receive new blind-bombing aids such as Gee, Oboe and the H2S radar.
Royal Observer Corps.
Observation posts often consisted of a wooden garden shed located next to a telegraph pole, this arrangement enabling a telecommunications link to be established with a control centre, often via a manual switchboard at local telephone exchange.
These 'garden shed' style observation posts were eventually replaced by more substantial brick structures, protected by sandbags, which due to their often having been constructed by Observer Corps personnel themselves meant that no two posts were identical. Observation posts were located in open playing fields, hilltops or cliff edges.
Sources:
Bomber Command Losses by W R Chorley, volume 8, page 229.
www.cwgc.org.uk
www.rafcommands.com
www.Llangammach.wales/history-society
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 21-Apr-2023 21:47 | redsix | Added |
| 03-May-2023 09:54 | Nepa | Updated |
| 24-Mar-2024 06:39 | Davies 62 | Updated [Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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