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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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BAOC
31.08/01.09.1941 RAF Ferry Command, Liberator AM915, Capt. Kenneth D. Garden

Operation: North Atlantic Ferry service

Date: 31st August/1st September 1941 (Sunday/Monday)

Unit: RAF Ferry Command

Type: Liberator

Serial: AM915 *

Code: None allocated

Location: Achinhoan Hill, near Campbeltown, Scotland

* This aircraft was built as B-24A #40-2354 then redesignated with RAF serial AM915 and assigned to the British Overseas Airway Corporation (BAOC)

Crew:

Capt. Kenneth Dardanelles Garden BAOC, Age 26. Killed (1)

1st Officer: Geoffrey Llewellyn Panes BAOC, Age 32. Killed (2)

Flight Engineer: Charles Alvan Spence RAF Ferry Command, Age 33. Killed (3)

Radio Officer: Samual Walter Sydenham RAF Ferry Command, Age 25. Killed (4)

Passengers:

Lt Col. Louis Harris Wrangham, Military Cross (MC), Royal Marines, Age 43. Killed (5)

Capt. Sherwood Picking, Navy Cross (NC), USN, Age 51. Killed (6)

Count Guy de Baillet-Latour, Age 36. Killed (7)

Dr. Robert Balmain Mowat, Age 58. Killed (8)

Dr. Mark Benjamin, Age 42. Killed (9)

Eric Taylor, Age? Killed (10)

REASON FOR LOSS:

Liberator AM915 took-off from RCAF Montreal at 22:26 hrs GMT on the 31st August 1941. It transited the Atlantic from Gander in Newfoundland bound for Prestwick in Scotland on a return ferry service Aboard was a BOAC/RAF Ferry Command crew of four (4) with six (6) passengers.

They encountered poor weather conditions with low visibility on approach to Prestwick and were diverted to nearby RAF Heathfield in Ayr but the pilot instead asked for weather conditions at Squires Gate, near Blackpool, England.

He then proceeded towards Squires Gate despite direction from Prestwick. Sometime later weather conditions at Squires Gate were deemed unsuitable and Prestwick contacted the pilot and asked for his intentions, he responded that he would make for RAF Heathfield.

No further communication was received and at 10:00 hrs local the aircraft struck the top of Achinhoan Hill known as “The Tongue”, 3 miles SE of Campbeltown in Argyll breaking up over a wide area with the loss of all aboard. The wreckage was not located until the following day due to the weather conditions.

(1)

Above: Capt. Garden (Courtesy of The Sydney Morning Herald, dated 4th September 1941)

(2)

Above: Royal Aero Club Aviators’ Certificate for Geoffrey L Panes

(3) Flight Engineer Spence’s remains were initially interred at Kilkerran Cemetery, Burgh of Campbeltown, Grave 595, Forth division.

Above: Charleroi Man Killed Abroad (Courtesy of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, dated 5th September 1941)

(4)

Above: Ferry Crash Victim (Courtesy of The Gazette, dated 5th September 1941)

(5) Lt Col. Wrangham as a Temporary Captain serving with the 1st Battalion, Royal Marines in WW1 he was awarded the Military Cross (MC) which was promulgated in the London Gazette on the 1st August 1919.

Citation: “For most conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty on September 27th, 1918, during the attack on Anneux. He led his company forward with great dash and courage, and when, after the village of Anneux had been taken, the enemy counter-attacked, he personally supervised the actions of a company on his right flank, when all its officers had become casualties, in addition to his own. Although wounded in the arm he continued at duty and also rallied other troops to the original alignment. He remained with his company throughout the operations until ordered by the medical officer to report to the aid post”.

(6) Capt. Picking, Navy Cross (NC), was travelling to take up his new post as the Assistant Naval Attache at the American Embassy in London. His remains were cremated at the Glasgow Crematorium on the 5th September 1941. A Untitled States Naval Officer from the American Consulate in Glasgow transported the ashes to the American Embassy in London for shipment to the Untitled States.

Above: Lt Cdr. Sherwood Picking (Courtesy of the Portland Press Herald, dated 27th May 1931) and Rites for Capt. Picking are held in Scotland (Courtesy of the Evening Star, Dated 6th September 1941)

As a Lieutenant Commander and the Commanding Officer (CO) of a United States Submarine (USS) during WWI he was awarded the Navy Cross (NC):

Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Commander Sherwood Picking, United States Navy, for distinguished service in the line of his profession as commander of the U.S.S. 0-10, making passage to the Azores and operating in European waters against enemy submarines during World War I”.

Above: US Navy submarine USS O-10 (SS-71) at the Boston Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts. Submarine USS O-4 (SS-65) is moored inboard of O-10. (US Navy photograph – Open source)

(7) Count Guy de Baillet-Latour was the Economical Counsellor to the Belgian Ministry for Colonies based at the Belgian Embassy in London.

Above: Courtesy of The Boston Globe dated 2nd September 1941 and The Daily Telegraph, dated 12th September 1941

According to a memorial plaque in the village of Latour (Belgium), with which the de Baillet Latour family had close historic links, Guy was buried in Eton. His memorial stands next to that of his father who died in the following year. However, there is some doubt that his grave still exists at Eton (St. John) Cemetery and despite considerable research carried out by Brian Hoare and Sarah Warren the Librarian at Eton College the doubt has not been resolved.

(8) Dr. Robert Balmain Mowat was the Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He held the appointment of Carnegie Visiting Professor and was returning to the United Kingdom after a tour of the United States in that capacity.

Above: Late Professor R.B. Mowat (Courtesy of the Somerset County Herald and Taunton Courier, dated 6th September 1941

(9) Dr. Benjamin was stationed at the Central Scientific Office in Washington, USA.

(10) Eric Taylor was the Principle Technical Officer from the Air Ministry based at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Farnborough.

Burial details:

Crew:

Above: War Cenotaph in the Garden of Remembrance, Glasgow Crematorium (Courtesy of Lucille Furie)

Column 1, War Cenotaph in the Garden of Remembrance, Glasgow Crematorium (Courtesy of Lucille Furie)

Kenneth Dardanelles Garden. His remains were cremated at the Glasgow Crematorium, Glasgow on the 8th September 1941. Son of Mr. and Mrs. F. Garden of Coogee, New South Wales, Australia. Resided at 92 Colin Crescent, Hendon, Middlesex. Left effects to an Elsie Mary Garden, the wife of Frank Alexander Garden (Unknown relationship).

Above: Ashes returned and scattered in Australia (Courtesy of The Sun, dated 23rd December 1941)

Geoffrey Llewellyn Panes. Interred at the Tonbridge Parish Church Cemetery in Kent on the 9th September 1941. Born on the 29th January 1909 in Leigh On Mendip, Somerset. Son of Edward Llewellyn and Winifred Florence (née Hobbs) (deceased in 1914) Panes of Great Hayesden Farm, Tonbridge, Kent, England.

Charles Alvan Spence. Repatriated and laid to rest at the Monongahela Cemetery, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Born on the 1st July 1908 in North Charleroi, Washington, Pennsylvania. Son of William Wallace (deceased in March 1934) and Mary Barbara (née Graff) Spence of North Charleroi, Washington, Pennsylvania. Husband to Mary Hazel Spence of Douglaston, Little Neck, New York City, USA.

Above Grave marker for Samual Walter Sydenham (Courtesy of the CWGC)

Samual Walter Sydenham. Campbeltown (Kilkerran) Cemetery, Section 4, Grave 594. Born on the 4th July 1916 in Melville, Saskatchewan. Son of Samuel and Emily (née Bidgood) Sydenham of Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Husband to Elizabeth ‘Betty’ (née Pryor) Sydenham of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Passengers:

Above: Golders Green War Memorial (Courtesy of the CWGC)

Memorial Panel 3 for Lt Col. Louis Harris Wrangham MC. (Courtesy of the CWGC)

Lt Col. Louis Harris Wrangham MC. Golders Green Crematorium, War Memorial Panel 3, Barnet, Greater London. Born on the 28th December 1897 in Hampstead, Greater London. Son of Thomas Harris and Louisa (née Sennett) Wrangham. Husband to Mary Bellingham (née Senior) Wrangham of Middleton-on-Sea, Sussex, England.

Capt. Sherwood Picking NC. Ashes repatriated to Pine Grove Cemetery, Falmouth, Maine USA. Born on the 21st February 1890 in Baltimore City, Maryland. Son of United States Navy Rear Admiral Henry Ford Picking and Laura Picking of Falmouth Foreside, Portland, Maine. Husband to Elizabeth (née Warner) Picking of Falmouth Foreside, Portland, Maine, USA.

Count Guy de Baillet-Latour. Eton (St John) Cemetery. Born on the 30th May 1905 in Brussels, Belgium. Son of Count Hendrik Graff Van Baillet-Latour and Elizabeth Countess of Clary and Aldringen of Brussels, Belgium. Husband to Marianna Armour (née Dunn) of the Belgian Embassy, London.

Above: Campletown (Kilkerran) Cemetery Courtesy of the CWGC)

Dr. Robert Balmain Mowat. Campbeltown (Kilkerran) Cemetery, Argyll County, Scotland, Civilian War Dead. Born on the 26th September 1883 in Edinburgh, Midlothian. Son of Robert and Mary Margaret ‘Maggie’ (née Scott) Mowat. Husband to Mary George (née Loch) Mowat of Downfield Lodge, Clifton, Bristol, England.

Dr. Mark Benjamin. Willesden United Synagogue Cemetery, Brent, London. Born on the 13th March 1909 in Whitechapel, Middlesex. Son of Harris and Bertha ‘Betty’ Benjamin. Husband to Betty (née Massin) Benjamin of Wembley Middlesex, England.

Above: Grave marker for Eric Taylor (Courtesy of the CWGC)

Eric Taylor. Campbeltown (Kilkerran) Cemetery, Argyll County, Scotland, Civilian War Dead. No biographical information found on-line.

Remembered on the Roll of Honor at the Scottish War Memorial.

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the crew and their families. Thanks to Lucille Furie of the Glasgow Crematorium for confirmation of date of Capt. Garden’s cremation and for the image of War Cenotaph (Jan 2025).

Thanks to The War Graves Photographic Project’ for their great work.

Other sources listed below:

RS 05.01.2025 - Initial upload

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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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