ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 349828
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| Date: | Sunday 30 January 1944 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Handley Page Halifax GR II |
| Owner/operator: | 502 'Ulster' RAF |
| Registration: | HR694 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 8 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Airfield. -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Offshore |
| Departure airport: | RAF St Davids |
| RAF St Davids |
Mission: Anti-Submarine Patrol #1
Details:
HR694 came off the production line BEFORE her sister HR693 on the 30th of January 1943. Issued to the RAF at 32 MU on the 8th of February, then came to 502 squadron on the 18th of that month.
She was sent to 60 MU on the 9th of August for upgrades. The next squadron was 58 RAF on the 25th of August 1943, why? This is unclear! On a specified date she came back to 502 squadron and retained her code ‘M’ for Mother.
The bad weather that wrote off Sunderland W6050 at Pembroke finally left this part of Wales, swapping for clear but cold fronts which brought fog instead. HR694 took off on the 29th of January on an Anti-Submarine patrol over the Western Approaches, West of the Scillies. In her patrol sector, the crew made several contacts but without concrete sightings. Then at 03:17hrs, they picked up a ‘hard’ contact and dropped four flares. The contact proved to be a U-Boat on the surface. Further flares were dropped but failed which resulted in losing a visual before they could get into a good position to attack. Then as the aircraft flew over the last position, the rear gunner sighted the U-Boat submerging. HR694 circled the last position but without any further sightings of contacts.
On their return, they encountered ground fog with patches When they were circling over the aerodrome. After three circuits and with the fuel becoming low the captain found the runway below but could see that a landing on runway 13 was unfavourable. He decided, an emergency landing was preferable to the crew baling out. HR694 was sighted by ground staff through the fog, halfway along runway 13, then saw it over shooting. When the emergency crews arrived at the scene, they saw how badly damaged the Halifax was, then relief, as the crew exited the wreck suffering only with cuts and bruises. HR694 crashed eight days after her sister HR693 which ‘undershot’ with the loss of its Navigator. Even though HR694 didn’t burst into flames, she was so badly damaged and had to be written off. She was SoC on the 17th of February 1944.
Crew:
P/O V. McDonell 414548 RNZAF. Pilot. Safe.
P/O A.N. Excell. Bdr. Safe.
P/O B.S. Lord J/24722 RCAF. Nav’. Safe.
W/O N. Hill. W/Op. Safe.
Sgt H.H. Lawson. F/Engr. Safe.
F/Sgt J. Denton. A/Gnr. Safe.
F/Sgt J.K. Kershaw. A/Gnr. Safe.
Sgt C. Wardle. A/Gnr. Safe.
Wreckage:
Aircraft dismantled and removed.
Sources:
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
www.rafcommands.com
www.air-britain.com
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-Jan-2024 07:46 | Davies 62 | Added |
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