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Operation: Ferry flight
Date: 25th May 1945 (Friday)
Unit No: 296 Squadron
Type: Halifax III
Serial: NA291
Code: 7C:?
Base: RAF Earles Colne, Essex
Location: Fortunes Farm, Leavesden, Hertfordshire, England
Pilot: Flt Lt. Alfred Alex McKenzie Fraser 151535 RAFVR Age 22. Killed
Flt Eng: Sgt. John Tait 1826325 RAFVR Age 36. Killed
WOp/Air Gnr: WO. Alan Montague Gates 1335041 RAFVR Age 22. Missing
Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. James Ross 1824704 RAFVR Age 22. Killed
Passenger: Lt. Keith Moore 268910 South Staffs Regt. Age 21. Killed
Above: WO. Alan Montague Gates (courtesy Marianne Walsh)
May 23rd 2016 - new information has been received from a relative of a survivor from this accident - page will be updated once verified.
REASON FOR LOSS:
Aircraft was on a re-positioning flight and flying at 500 ft. Due to a fault in the 'immersion switch' - coupled with an electrical short-circuit which activated the CO2 bottle, one of the rescue dingies inflated, released from the stowage space in the wing and wrapped around the tail unit.
The pilot could not control the aircraft which then dived into the ground.
Above: Area of crash site (courtesy Roger Batten - October 2015)
This is not the first instance that this fault has taken place with always the same obvious tragic outcome.21 people were killed on a Halifax with exactly the same problem. 21 people were killed on a Halifax with exactly the same problem. Crashing on the 14th September 1945 at Priddacombe, Bolventor, on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall.
644 Sqn Halifax VII PN305 9:UW en-route to the Azores from RAF Tarrant Rushton crashed at 08:55 hrs, Bolventor Cornwall with the loss of 7 crew and and all 14 passengers:
Crew:
Pilot: Flt Lt. Jeremiah Charles Garnett 152486 RAFVR Age 23. (from Bromley Cross);
2nd Pilot: Fg Off. Alan John Reardon 181581 RAFVR Age 23. (from Edgware, Middlesex);
Flt Eng: Flt Lt. Gerald Theodore Bailey 143807 RAFVR Age 23. (from Old Catton, Norfolk);
Nav: Flt Lt. Geoffrey Percival Ormesher 152318 RAFVR Age 22. (from Bolton, Lancashire);
Bomb Aimer: Fg Off. Peter Stafford Briggs 159989 RAFVR Age 24. (from Chelmsford, Essex);
WOp/Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. William Henry Mathias 1836211 RAFVR Age 20. (from Loughor, Glamorgan);
Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. Clifford William Akers 904583 RAFVR Age 27. (Carshalton, Surrey England).
Passengers:
AC2. 1591163 Alan Ralph Titford - age 21 (from Tamworth, Staffordshire)
LAC. 1815510 Leonard Roy Victor Cox - age 23 (from Kingham, Oxfordshire);
AC1. 1599165 Patrick Fitzgibbon - age 23 (from Drumcondra, Dublin);
LAC. 1202198 Cecil Everard Charles Hoborough - age 25 (from Drayton, Berkshire);
LAC. 1401473 Roy William Nicholls - age 22 (from Truro, Cornwall);
Cpl. 1216502 Henry Phillip Mills - age 26 from Ipswich, Suffolk);
LAC. 1131315 Selwyn Thomas - age 25 (from Porth, Glamorgan);
LAC. 1692999 Thomas Smith Wallace - age 35 (from Methil, Fifeshire);
LAC. 1661054 Ernest Raymond Richings - age 24 (from Knowle, Bristol);
LAC 1455798 Stanley Price (from Crookes, Sheffield);
AC2. 3030850 Dennis Martin - age 20 (from Hazelslade Staffordshire);
LAC. 1797215 Edward Joseph Lynott - age 21 (from Cabra, Dublin);
LAC. 1197569 Edwin Arthur George Pettifer - age 24, (from Wolvercote, Oxfordshire);
AC2. 2252295 Robert Owen - age 18 (from Llangristiolus, Anglesey).
Other similar accidents with the Halifax during the war have also been recorded.
Above: Memorial placed to the crew by unknown visitors - An older cross can be seen to the right in the hedge, also in the grass below are several remembrance crosses left by people paying their respects.
Burial details:
Unusual photograph of Runnymede, taken from the inside looking out (Aircrew Remembered visit 2013)
Flt Lt. Alfred Alex McKenzie Fraser. Grangemouth (Grandsable) Cemetery. Sec 1. Grave 48. Son of Alexander and Christina Fraser, of Grangemouth, Scotland. (Photographed by webmaster in 2010 - original high resolution copy available).
Sgt. John Tait. Peniculk Cemetery. Sec E. Grave 195. Son of Arthur and Janet Louis Tait, husband of Isabella Tait, of Rosslyn Castle, Scotland.
WO. Alan Montague Gates. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 269. Son of Archie and Olive Gates of Arlesey, Bedfordshire, England.
At the time of his death he was engaged to a lady named Beryl. Prior to enlisting he would cycle to Letchworth from Arlesey after doing a day's work in order to attend night classes to obtain the qualifications required to enable him to qualify for the RAF. It was his dream. Once accepted he was sent to South Africa for training and 'passed out' in Durban. Tragically his father, just weeks before Alan was killed also lost his life. He had his own motor garage and workshop in Arlesey (Beds) and in April 1945 he was respraying a vehicle when the paint sprayer exploded, inflicting terrible injuries. He died the following day.
Flt Sgt. James Ross. Dornoch East Cemetery. Sec 6. Grave 105. Son of Peter and Helen Ross, husband of Catherine Ross, of Dornoch, Scotland.
Lt. Keith Moore. Colchester Cemetery. Sec. B. Div. B. Grave 99. Son of William John and Marjorie Bashford Moore, husband of Patricia Moore, of East Colne, England.
Researched for relatives of the persons killed. Including Marianne Walsh, niece of WO. Alan Gates who contacted us with further details in August 2014. Also to Jamie Crocker, the son of Beryl - additional informal and photographs sent in February 2015. Details of exact location and memorial sent into us October 2015, with many thanks to Roger Batten who visited the location and took further photographs of the area/memorial. Reviewed and updated by Aircrew Remembered (Jun 2024)
Other Sources listed below:
RS 10.06.2024 - Reviewed and updated
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them. - Laurence
Binyon
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Last Modified: 10 June 2024, 15:05