ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 348028
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| Date: | Saturday 20 November 1943 |
| Time: | |
| Type: | Miles Martinet TT1 |
| Owner/operator: | 1 AGS RAF |
| Registration: | HP366 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | Ty Newydd Farm, Pontantwn. -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Pembrey |
| Return. |
Mission: Towing.
Details:
Between 1941 and 1945 Pembrey was host to the RAF's Air Gunnery School, after which its activities relaxed a little and it became an air crew holding unit for war weary crews being demobbed.
Before the issue of Air Ministry Specification 12/41, it had been standard RAF practice to use out-dated aircraft, however unsuitable, for the task of target towing. The outbreak of World War 2 had highlighted this short-sighted policy, leading the procurement of an aircraft designed specifically for such a role. The Miles M.25 prototype (LR241) was flown for the first time on the 24th of April 1942, the aircraft being bases on the Miles Master mkII but with a lengthened nose to compensate for the weight of target towing equipment. Incorprorated within a modified cockpit was the drogue cable winch, which is powered by an electric motor or Wind Driven propeller, and there was a comfortable space for the operator and stowage of the drogue targets. The type entered service as the Miles Martinet and between 1942 and 1945 a total of 1,724 was built.
As for the events of this date, not a lot is known. Why the crew were so far north of the ranges is also unclear. However, the weather may have played it’s part, according to weather archives it was a dull grey day with some showers and low lying cloud. It is possible they became lost in cloud! Why the aircraft came down at the rear of the farm killing the two crew has sadly been lost. If it was from the fire at the archives during the 90’s or, hopefully simply miss-filed, this too is unknown.
The farm too has been sold off as a working farm and is now a Bed & Breakfast, so that avenue is also closed off.
Maybe over the course of time, the full story will come to the fore.
Crew:
Sgt Richard Willianson Rigby 22yo 1218437 RAFVR. Pilot. Killed. 1
Son of Mr & Mrs J. H. Rigby of Wigan.
Lac Harold Egerton 32yo 1069938 RAFVR. Winch Op’. Killed. 2
Son of Charles & Mary Jane Egerton of Liverpool. Husband of Evelyn Francis Egerton of Dingle, Liverpool.
Burial:
1 Wrightington (St. Joseph) Roman Catholic Churchyard. Grave 89A.
2 Liverpool (Anfield) Cemetery. Section 15. C of E. Grave 1954.
Wreckage:
Unknown. Private ground.
Additional Information:
There were 5 huge hangers for bombers and a number of smaller blister-roofed hangers for fighter aircraft, but these were taken down in 1962 and only 2 remain. There was an observation tower near Allt Cunedda Farm, a radio station on the Pinged Road and a domed star navigation building that still stands on the approach to the airfield. There were a series of anti-aircraft batteries and numerous pillboxes to defend the area. Along the railway line tank blocks protected against invasion and along the top end of Cefn Sidan, the stakes that defended against landings are still visible at low tide.
Also in the area was an RAF air-sea rescue base at Ferryside, using high speed launches to pick up crews that had ditched in Carmarthen Bay, and a Royal Navy base at Llanelli.
There was D-Day landing training in Rhossili Bay and countless US, Canadian and British camps in the area awaiting Operation Overlord's Normandy landings, including a US tank regiment at Pembrey and Stradey.
The other major area of war effort was the munitions factory at Pembrey. The isolated sand dunes of southern Cefn Sidan were ideal for explosives manufacture and in 1881 there was a factory producing gunpowder and dynamite. In 1914 this became a large-scale Royal Ordnance Factory built and run by the Nobel Explosives Company of Glasgow and owned and financed by the Government. It produced Trinitrotoluene, TNT, and was one of the largest of the 200 factories producing munitions during WW1.
Sources:
www.rafcommands.com
www.cwgc.org
www.findagrave.com
https://ww1.wales
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Nov-2023 07:11 | Davies 62 | Added |
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