F/O. Sharp
Operation: Formation Training
Date: 8th October 1940 (Tuesday)
Unit: No. 13 Operational Training Unit (OTU)
Type: Blenheim IV (L4883) and Blenheim I (L6783)
Serial: L4883 and L6783
Code: VE-?
Base: RAF Bicester, Oxfordshire
Location: Not recorded - thought to be near RAF Bicester, Oxfordshire
Pilot: (L4883) Fl/Lt. Stewart Farquharson Coutts-Wood DFC, 37794, RAF, Age 25 - Killed
Pilot: (L6783) F/O. Patrick Duart Sharp, 72284, RAFVR, Age 21 - Killed
Obs: (L4883) Sgt. Sydney Chambers, 759176, RAFVR, Age 33 - Killed
Obs: (L4883) Sgt. Dennis Wilfred Wordsworth, 754549, RAFVR, Age 24 - Killed
Obs: (L6783) P/O. Clarence Carnegie Milne Gauldie, 84029, RAFVR, Age 24 - Killed
W/Op/Air Gnr: (L4883) Sgt. Walter James Brett, 971032, RAFVR, Age 21 - Killed
W/Op/Air Gnr: (L6783) Sgt. Gordon Ellis Ancliffe, 940153, RAFVR, Age 19 - Killed
With thanks to Vanessa Roberts, who brought our attention to this loss after seeing the poor state of the grave for Sgt. Wordsworth - October 2026
Reason for Loss
No. 13 Operational Training Unit (OTU) was formed on 8th April 1940 at RAF Bicester in Oxfordshire to train light bomber aircrews during the Second World War. It primarily trained pilots, observers and air gunners on aircraft such as the Bristol Blenheim, and later operated other types including Mitchells, Bostons and Mosquitos.
Left: Fl/Lt. Stewart Farquharson Coutts-Wood DFC
In its first year the unit passed out 217 pilots, 240 observers and 273 air gunners. By its second year it was producing close to 300 Blenheim crews.
During a routine formation exercise the two Blenheims collided in mid-air, thought to be over Bicester. All seven crew from both aircraft lost their lives.
Training casualties - For Bomber Command, which 13 OTU served, the figure is well documented. The Imperial War Museum states that more than 8,000 Bomber Command men were killed in training accidents or other non-operational flying during the Second World War. That is out of about 55,500 Bomber Command aircrew killed in total, so roughly one death in seven happened away from operations.
Bristol Blenheim IV
The Blenheim IV was the long-nosed version of the Bristol Blenheim. It was the RAF's main light bomber in the first two years of the Second World War, and the type 13 OTU was training crews to fly.
Origins
The Blenheim grew out of the Bristol Type 142, "Britain First", a fast private aircraft ordered by newspaper owner Lord Rothermere in 1935. It was faster than the RAF's fighters of the day, so the Air Ministry ordered a bomber version, the Blenheim Mk I. That design had a short, cramped nose, which left the navigator little space for charts and bomb-aiming.
The Mk IV fixed this with a lengthened nose. The upper left side of the nose was scalloped so the pilot could still see forward and down. The Mk IV also had more powerful engines and much larger fuel tanks, which roughly doubled the range. It entered service in 1939, and well over 3,000 were built in Britain. Canada built a version under licence as the Bolingbroke.
Crew: Three - pilot, observer (navigator and bomb aimer) and wireless operator/air gunner.
Engines: Two Bristol Mercury XV radials of about 900 hp each
Top speed: About 265 mph
Range: About 1,450 miles
Bomb load: Normally 1,000 lb, up to about 1,300 lb with overload
Armament: A forward-firing .303 machine gun in the wing and a powered dorsal turret, later fitted with twin guns. Many aircraft also had a rear-facing gun under the nose.
Wingspan: About 56 ft
Service
On 3rd September 1939, the day war was declared, a Blenheim IV of 139 Squadron flew the RAF's first sortie of the war over Germany, photographing the German fleet. The next day Blenheims attacked warships at Wilhelmshaven.
Through 1940 and 1941, No. 2 Group flew the type on daylight raids against targets in Belgium, France and the Netherlands, including the invasion barges in the Channel ports and low-level attacks on shipping. Losses were very heavy. By 1940 the Blenheim was too slow and too lightly armed to survive against Bf 109s without a fighter escort.
It also served with Coastal Command and in the Middle East, Greece and the Far East. The Mk IVF was a long-range fighter version with a pack of extra guns under the fuselage. From 1942 the Blenheim was withdrawn from front-line bomber work and replaced by the Boston, Ventura and Mosquito. It carried on in training and second-line roles.
Burial Details
Fl/Lt. Stewart Farquharson Coutts-Wood DFC. Nottingham Crematorium War Memorial. Son of Dr. Charles Coutts-Wood (died 1965, age 82) and Georgina Coutts-Wood, of 299 Main Street, Bulwell, Nottingham. Brother of Cyril, Gertrude and Margaret Coutts-Wood. His father and brother Cyril were doctors. Formerly of HQ Aden.
F/O. Patrick Duart Sharp. St. Just-in-Roseland (St. Just) Churchyard. Son of Philip Granville Sharp (died 1995, age 91) and Vivien Sharp (died 2009, age 95), of Cornwall, England. (Note: family grave - good condition.)
Sgt. Sydney Chambers. Newcastle-upon-Tyne (All Saints) Cemetery, Sec. M. Cons. Grave 353. Son of Frederick and Jane Chambers, of Newcastle-on-Tyne; husband of Elizabeth Chambers. He was also a member of the 1st Tyne (Sea Scouts) Group. Epitaph: "May He Rest In Peace". (Note: CWGC grave in family plot.)
Sgt. Dennis Wilfred Wordsworth. Sheffield (Crookes) Cemetery, Sec. J.J. Grave 5592. Son of Wilfred Albert George Wordsworth (died 1943, age 53) and Anne Wordsworth (née Fawcett, died 1975, age 86), of Sheffield. His parents married on 25th September 1915 at St. John the Baptist Church, Owlerton. (Note: family grave - headstone toppled over.) See Supplement
P/O. Clarence Carnegie Milne Gauldie. Arbroath Western Cemetery, Compt. R. Grave 281. Son of William Hampton Gauldie (died 1946, age 46?) and Jane Gauldie (née Milne, died 1957, age 65), of Arbroath. (Note: family grave - good condition.)
Sgt. Walter James Brett. Liverpool (Anfield) Cemetery, Sec. 13. C. of E. Grave 1778. Son of Walter and Sybil Brett, of Seacombe, Wallasey, Cheshire. (Note: family grave - good condition.)
Sgt. Gordon Ellis Ancliffe. Sheffield (City Road) Cemetery, Sec. J. Grave 8459. Son of Ernest Ancliffe (died 1980, age 91) and Ada Elizabeth Ancliffe (née Kidder, died 1979, age 88), of Sheffield, England. (Note: family grave - headstone toppled over.)
Sources and Acknowledgements
- National Archives, Kew - AIR 81/3680, AIR 81/3681, AIR 29/648, AIR 29/650
- Aircrew Remembered Archives
- Aviation Safety Network
- Find a Grave
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC)
- IBCC Digital Archive - RAF Bicester
- Nottinghamshire Roll of Honour
- Bicester Local History Society - RAF Bicester Chronology
Supplement - Additional Information and Notes
13 OTU - further details
According to the IBCC Digital Archive, 13 OTU was created by merging 104 and 108 Squadrons, which had been at Bicester as training units since September 1939. The Bicester Local History Society chronology records that the unit formed with 36 Blenheims and 12 Ansons. No. 7 Group, Bomber Command's second training group, was formed in July 1940 with its headquarters at Bicester.
Other 13 OTU losses around Bicester include Blenheim IV V5751, which crashed north of Ambrosden on 23rd June 1941; Blenheim IV R3805, which spun in at Shelswell Park after both engines cut out shortly after take-off from RAF Finmere; and Blenheim IV Z7962, which crashed just beyond the airfield boundary on 6th December 1941.
Sgt. Dennis Wilfred Wordsworth (Sheffield, Crookes) -
"In sacred and treasured memory of Sergt. Observer R.A.F. 754549 Dennis Wilfred Wordsworth, elder son of Wilfred and Anne Wordsworth, killed on active service Oct. 8th 1940, aged 24 years. His life a beautiful memory."
The kerbs record his father Wilfred, "devoted husband of Anne Wordsworth", who died in 1943 aged 54 according to the stone ("Peace perfect peace"), and his mother Anne, who died on 24th July 1975 aged 86. The flower vase is inscribed "D. W. W." Sgt. Gordon Ellis Ancliffe (Sheffield, City Road) -
"In loving memory of Gordon Ellis, the dearly loved son of Ernest and Ada Ancliffe. Sgt. Air Gunner Wireless Operator R.A.F. Killed on active service Oct. 8th 1940, aged 19 years. Happy memories." Also Ada Elizabeth Ancliffe (née Kidder), dear wife of Ernest.
