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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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RAF Crest
23.08.1943 No. 20 OTU Wellington X HE802 S Fl/Sgt. Frank E. Adams, RAF Lossiemouth, Aberdeenshire

Operation: Training

Date: 26th August 1943 (Thursday)

Unit: No. 20 (OTU) Operational Training Unit

Type: Wellington X

Serial: HE802

Code: JN-S

Base: RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland

Location: South East of base, Aberdeenshire

Pilot: Fl/Sgt. Frank Edward Adams R/136460 RCAF Age 22. Killed

Nav 1: Fl/Sgt. Basil Elliott Clark R/158763 RCAF Age 34. Killed

Nav 2: Sgt. Brian Gray Donbavand 1535683 RAFVR Age 20. Killed

Air/Bmr 1: Fl/Sgt. Edward Howard Weeks R/166149 RCAF Age 20. Killed

Air/Bmr 2: Sgt. Kenneth Gordon Soutar R/90794 RCAF Age 37. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Alec Percy King 1332284 RAFVR Age 20. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off from RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland on a routine cross-country training flight.

It is thought that one of the two propellers were struck by an object/s and caused part of one of the blades to sever as it is understood that the injuries to the pilot showed that he may have been killed or incapacitated by a fragment entering the cockpit area prior to the Wellington crashing South East of RAF Lossiemouth.

Some reports that it came down in an area named Corrydown, others near Huntly, Aberdeenshire.

(1) Weeks Lake - east of Nejanilini Lake, Manitoba was named after Fl/Sgt. Edward Weeks after him in 1974.

Burial details:

Fl/Sgt. Frank Edward Adams. Lossiemouth Burial Ground. Grave 981. Son of John and Dorothy Adams, of Whitby, Ontario, Canada.

Fl/Sgt. Basil Elliott Clark. Lossiemouth Burial Ground. Grave 983. Son of William Ernest and Laurinda Mary Clark, of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Sgt. Brian Gray Donbavand. Manchester Crematorium. Panel 10. Son of Robert G. Donbavand and Nora Donbavand (neé Hodgson) Brother to Robert H. Donbavand. Born 3rd January 1923 in Manchester, graduated as an Air Navigator 4th December 1942 in Ontario, Canada.

Fl/Sgt. Edward Howard Weeks. Lossiemouth Burial Ground. Grave 982. Son of Edward George and Ruby Irene Weeks, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Sgt. Kenneth Gordon Soutar. Lossiemouth Burial Ground. Grave 984. Son of George S. Soutar and Mary Soutar, of North Bay, Ontario, Canada.

Sgt. Alec Percy King. Luton General Cemetery. Grave 17028. Son of Arthur Percy and Nellie Emily King, of Luton, Bedfordshire, England.

Researched for Kay Donbavand and Judi Wood both of whom provided photographs. For further details our thanks to the following sources shown below.

KTY 14.11.2015

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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 Captain 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', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, 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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