Operation: Delivery flight

Date: 20/21st March 1944 (Monday/Tuesday))

Unit: No. 3 OADU (Overseas Air Delivery Unit)

Type: Halifax II

Serial: JP137

Code: -

Base: RAF Hurn, Dorset

Location: Wimbourne Road, Bournemouth

Pilot: Sgt, Denis Roy Evans 1323338 RAFVR Age 20. Killed

Fl/Eng: Sgt. Stanley Frederick Gent 1333177 RAFVR Age 22. Killed

Air/Bmr/; F/O. Stanley Arthur Appleton 152127 RAFVR Age 30. Killed

Nav: Sgt. Henry William Roberts 1585160 RAFVR Age 35. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. George Augustus Alexander 1099966 RAFVR Age 23. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Kenneth Green 1674977 RAFVR Age 20. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Reginald Rothwell McGregor R/197660 RCAF Age 21. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off at 00:32 hrs with using a crew from 1658 Heavy Conversion Unit in order to take part in Special Operation Executive operations in the Middle East. The aircraft was fully loaded with 2518lbs of freight and a full fuel load.

Shortly after take off one engine caught fire and other engines also suffered problems. The pilot lost all control and the aircraft crashed into residential houses killing all the severn crew and two local residents.

The subsequent board of enquiry blamed the crash as 'pilot error'. However relatives and local residents appealed for witnesses to come forward and to provide evidence that the aircraft had suffered catasrific engine failure and that the pilot did not have any chance to manoeuvre the aircraft away from the buildings.

The two residents who lost their lives were named as 49 year old Percy Frederick Chislett of 1027 Wimbourne Road and 59year old Dorothea Bennett who lived at No. 9 Meadow Court, Wimbourne Road

Local residents and relatives unveiled and dedicated on 10th July 2011 a wonderful plaque near to the actual crash site.

On the same day but unconnected another pilot lost his life. 28 year old Fl/Lt. Norval Edward Pollock J/14314 RCAF Flying Hurricane LD972 with 439 squadron was involved in a mid air collision with an unidentified Thunderbolt from the USAAF. A thunderbolt sliced through one of his wings causing the Hurricane to spin out of control killing the Canadian pilot. The Hurricane crashed about 2 miles east of Hurn, Hampshire.

Burial details:

Sgt, Denis Roy Evans. Pinner Cemetery. Site B5-36 PM . Born on the 08th October 1923 . Son of Charles and Emma Helen Evans (née Garside), of Kenton, Harrow, England..

Sgt. Stanley Frederick Gent. Portslade Cemetery. Sec. E.E. Grave 10. Son of Frederick Charles and Elsie Rose Gent, of Portslade, Brighton, England. Epitaph: 'Greater Love Hath No Man Than This, That A Man Lay Down His Life For His Friends'.

F/O. Stanley Arthur Appleton. Alperton Cemetery. Plot C.C. Grave 163. Son of Edward John and Lily Jane Appleton; husband of Lilian Mary Appleton, of Wembley, England. Epitaph 'He Lives In The Hearts Of Those Who Loved Him'.

Sgt. Henry William Roberts. Brookwood Military Cemetery. Grave 20. C. 13. Son of William and Sarah Roberts; sister Evelyn Cleverly, husband of Eleanor May Roberts, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Epitaph: 'Dear Heart You Answered Duty's Call That We Might Live Per Ardua Libertas'

Sgt. George Augustus Alexander. Brookwood Military Cemetery. Grave 20. C. 12. Son of George Alexander, and of Phyllis M. Alexander, of Bedford., England. Epitaph: 'In Proud And Loving Remembrance Of My Son One Of The "Few" To Whom We Owe So Much'.

Sgt. Kenneth Green. Hull Northern Cemetery. Compt. 227. Grave 24. Son of Walter Henry and Jane Ellen Green, of Hull, England. Epitaph: 'For One And All He Did His Best May God Grant Him Now Eternal Rest'.

Sgt. Reginald Rothwell McGregor. Brookwood Military Cemetery. Grave 48. B. 3. Born on the 30th December 1922 in British Columb, Canada. Son of Archibald (died 07th June 1943, age 70) and Lillian May and McGregor (née Cunningham - died 23rd March 1955, age 72), of New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. Epitaph: 'We Shall Meet On That Beautiful Shore'.

Civilians:

Dorothea Bennett. Wimborne Road Cemetery. Born on the 27th May 1884. Daughter of Henry Josiah (died 1907, age 59) and Sarah Alice Gill, (née Adams - died 05th September 1933, age 80) of Guildford, Surrey, wife of Oswald Edward Bennett (died 09th August 1918). Mother of Doctor Margaret Bennett (died 2019, age 102) of Meadow Court, Wimbourne Road.

Percy Frederick Chislett. Wimborne Road Cemetery. Born on the 11th May 1893 in Bournemouth. Husband of Mary and father of John, of 1027 Wimborne Road, Moordown, Bournemouth

Other:

Fl/Lt. Norval Edward Pollock. Bournemouth North Cemetery, Row G.4. Grave 90. Born on the 18th March 1916 in Ontario, Canada. Son of Charles Alfred (died in 1967, age 88) and Anne (née MacDonald) Pollock of Ripley, Ontario; husband of Clarice Kathleen (née Chapman, later Whitcroft - died in 1983, age 68) Pollock, they married on the 12th September 1942 in London]; father of Karen Anne Pollock - born 08th Julye 1944 - who died in infancy; brother of Murray Douglas, Elmer Charles, Harry John, Noreen Margaret and Helen.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to National Archive. Kew Daily Mail, Moordown Halifax Memorial. Winton Online. Roger Shore a local resin who researched this loss. Paradie RCAF Archives, Canadian WW2 Service records.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
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