Memorial to Lancaster crash

[Kyt]

Memorial to brave crew of mystery Lancaster crash

WORK on a memorial to the crew of a Lancaster bomber which flew from RAF Waddington begins today in the Scottish Highlands.

One of the aircraft's propellers has been recovered and restored at the air base near Lincoln.

The Lancaster crashed in mysterious circumstances near Kingussie on the night of August 31, 1944, during a training flight.

Pieces were scattered over a square kilometre of rough, inaccessible terrain.

The memorial, which will be based on the relic, is to be erected on August 31 in the private graveyard of the owners of Balavail House, in Badenoch, the Macpherson-Fletchers.
Click here!

The bomber, PD259 JO-G, had only 57 flying hours to its name and was being flown by a rookie Australian crew.

Also on board was Glaswegian RAF flight engineer Warrant Officer George Middleton (37), who may have parachuted from the stricken plane in time.

But he is thought to have fallen to his death in a fall from a cliff while trying to fetch help.

Theories as to what caused the crash include unnoticed flak damage from an operation to Russia the previous night and a lightning strike.

Bomber Command veteran Roy Clarke (85), from Wragby, served as a wireless operator on Lancasters during the Second World War.

"I think it's absolutely right that this Aussie air crew has a memorial put up for them," he said.

"You have to remember that Bomber Command was made up of very brave people from all over the world.

"If it wasn't for the Commonwealth and other countries we would never have fulfilled our commitments."

Fuller details:

URL removed as the page contains a malicious programme

[spidge]

Fuller details alright.

That is one heavy piece of writing and investigation.

[liverpool annie]

Originally Posted by spidge

Fuller details alright.

That is one heavy piece of writing and investigation.

I found this ....

The Royal Australian Air Force crew who died were pilot, Flying Officer Robert Beddoe (21), from Elsterwick, near Victoria; navigator, Flight Sergeant Frederic Walker (32), St Ives, New South Wales; mid-upper gunner, Flight Sergeant Stanley Abbott (21), Cottesloe, West Australia; wireless operator, Flight Sergeant Terrence Dent (21), Walkeston, Queensland; rear gunner, Flight Sergeant Bevil Glover (23), Malvern, Victoria, and bomb aimer David Ryan (30), of Fairfield, Victoria.

Mission to honour Lancaster crew... 64 years on - Strathspey and Badenoch Herald

A photograph taken of the crew shortly before they were killed – left to right, David Ryan, Terrence Dent, Robert Beddoe, Fredric Walker, Bevil Glover and Stanley Abbott.

[ME453]

This is an extract from the Australian Roll of Honour website:

463 SQUADRON RAAF WORLD WAR 2 FATALITIES
Date of Death: 31 August 1944.
Source:
AWM 64 1/342 (3), 1/343 AWM 237 (63) (64)
NAA : A705, 166/5/687
Aircraft Type:
Lancaster
Serial number:
PD 259
Radio call sign:
JO -
Unit:
463 Sqn RAAF
Summary:
Lancaster PD259 took off from RAF Waddington on 31st August 1944 to carry out a night non-operational cross-country flight. The aircraft crashed at 2315 hours in the Monadhliath mountains about 10 miles north of Kingussie, Inverness Shire, Scotland, and all the crew were killed.
Crew:
RAAF 418717 FO Beddoe, R H Captain (Pilot)
RAAF 428834 Flt Sgt F M Walker (Navigator)
RAAF 418473 Flt Sgt D H Ryan, (Bomb Aimer)
RAAF 425617 Flt Sgt T R Dent, (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
RAF WO G H Middleton, (Flight Engineer)
RAAF 436790 Flt Sgt S A Abbott (Mid Upper Gunner)
RAAF 436579 Flt Sgt B M Glover (Rear Gunner)
On RAAF casualty file A705, 166/5/687 held by Archives the following details are recorded in the Court of Inquiry into the accident :
A Meteorology report of conditions in the area at the time of the accident stated “Fairly frequent showers in the north of Scotland at the time of the accident. Cumulus and Cumulonimbus clouds extensive to 20,000 feet locally with some reaching to 25,000 feet. Cloud base was locally below 1000 feet in showers and would be covering hilltops. Visibility under cloud in the` area was from 15/30 miles. Temps –30degC to –44degC at 20,000 feet and 25,000 feet respectively. These are far too low for icing to be expected if aircraft was flying at briefed height of 25,000 feet.
It was also recorded that the crew had a sound training record and that since at this unit the pilot had done 10 hours as second pilot at night and a four hours daylight exercise with his crew. The briefed height was 25,000 feet and the pilot understood the met. situation. Despatch of training flight was considered justified as a bright moon and icing risk negligible at briefed height.”

I was in the room in RAF Waddington only 2 or 3 weeks ago where the prop and other remains are. One part, an injector if I remember correctly, is in such good condition that my RAF companion said he thought the BBMF could be interested in it as a spare for their Lanc!
Best wishes
Max

The A705 Casualty Report is available online, pages 38 and 39 make particularly interesting reading. It suggests pilot error and inexperience as the primary cause.

[Antipodean Andy]

Good to see these young men remembered. Looks like Geoff has some good detail for his project too!

[spidge]

Seems that Middleton RAF was thought to have parachuted out to safety. It is also thought that he went looking for help in the darkness and fell down a cliff to his death .

[Nostalgair]

Hi All,

Another fitting tribute and I must comment that I never cease to be amazed by all of your varied abilities to research these events.

Cheers

Owen

[Kyt]

In post #1 I posted a URL to 467&463 RAAF Squadron website, and a page on the above crash. I have now removed the link as that particular page contained a malicious programme (a virus) that has affected a few people on rafcommands. It did not seem to affect my computer as I have pretty tight security.

But for those members who clicked the link, please do a scan of your computer using your anti-virus programme, just incase.

Apologies to anyone who may have been caught out.