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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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463 Squadron Crest
31.08.1944 No. 463 Squadron Lancaster III PD259 JO-P F/O. Robert H. Beddoe

Operation: Cross Country Training Exercise

Date: 31st August 1944 (Thursday)

Unit: No. 463 Squadron

Type: Lancaster III

Serial: PD259

Code: JO-G

Base: RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire.

Location: Near Kingussie Invernesshire Scotland

Pilot: F/O. Robert Henry Beddoe AUS/418717 RAAF Age 21. Killed

Fl/Eng: W/O. George Henry Middleton 619089 RAFVR Age 37. Killed

Nav: Fl/Sgt. Frederic Murray Walker AUS/428834 RAAF Age 32. Killed

Air/Bmr: Fl/Sgt. David Henry Ryan AUS/418473 RAAF Age 30. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Terence Roy Dent AUS/425617 RAAF Age 21. Killed

Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Stanley Arthur Abbott AUS/436790 RAAF Age 21. Killed

Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Bevil Milton Glover AUS/436579 RAAF Age 23. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

The crew of Lancaster PD259 took off from their base at RAF Waddington on a cross country training flight. The exercise was to take them over the Highlands of Scotland. At the briefing, the crew were informed that the weather forecast was given as fairly frequent showers of rain over the north of Scotland.

Crew of PD259 Front row L-R: Fl/Sgt. David Ryan, F/O. Robert Beddoe, Fl/Sgt. Frederick Walker, Rear row Fl/Sgt. Terence Dent, Fl/Sgt. Bevil Glover. Not shown is W/O. George Henry Middleton.


At the time of the accident there were cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds which probably extended to 20,000 feet in the vicinity of Kingussie, with some clouds reaching 25,000 feet. The cloud base in the vicinity of Kingussie was below 1,000 feet, it was raining - the cloud and rain would have been shrouding the Monadhliath Mountains.

Left: Crash site of PD259 - Right: Later this propeller was made into a memorial for the crew at RAF Waddington

Additional information has been provided by the RAF Waddington Heritage & Ethos Centre which corrects the original reported code (JO-P) for the aircraft. It appears from the recovered wreckage that the aircraft was coded JO-Y and then recoded at JO-G.

The Lancaster flew into a gentle slope of the mountain killing all the crew. The position of the crash was recorded as being 10 miles east, north, east of Kingussie, Inverness. The six Australian members of the crew now all rest together at Cambridge City Cemetery, England.

Burial details:

F/O. Robert Henry Beddoe. Cambridge City Cemetery, England, Grave 14170. Son of Francis George and Lily Catherine Matilda Beddoe, of Elsternwick, Victoria, Australia.

W/O. George Henry Middleton. Rutherglen Cemetery, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Division. Q. Grave 514. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Middleton of Glasgow, Scotland. Husband of Sarah Middleton, of Glasgow, Scotland. From RAF 83 Sqd, attached to RAAF 463 Sqdn.

Fl/Sgt. Frederic Murray Walker. Cambridge City Cemetery, England, Grave 14370. Son of Frederic Joseph and Ella Mary Walker. Husband of Jean Florence Walker,of St. Ives,New South Wales, Australia.

Fl/Sgt. David Henry Ryan. Cambridge City Cemetery, England, Grave 14570. Son of David and Ruby Emma Ryan. Husband of Doris Marjorie Ryan, of Fairfield, Victoria, Australia.

Fl/Sgt. Terence Roy Dent. Cambridge City Cemetery, England, Grave 14770. Son of Robert Mitchell Dent and Annie Dent, of Walkerston, Queensland, Australia.

Fl/Sgt. Stanley Arthur Abbott. Cambridge City Cemetery, England, Grave 13970. Son of George Stanley Abbott and Jean Hamilton Abbott, of Cottesloe, Western Australia.

Fl/Sgt. Bevil Milton Glover. Cambridge City Cemetery, England, Grave 13770. Son of Gerald and Sarah Lucy Glover. Husband of Roma Merle Glover, of Malvern, Victoria, Australia.

Researched by Mr. Bob Wilton for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew. Thanks to John Tarbox from the RAF Waddington Heritage & Ethos Centre for the new information regarding the aircraft code.

RS 14.08.2019 - Correction to aircraft code

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Acknowledgements
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and MWO François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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