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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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141 crest

Operation: Patrol

Date: 19/20th January 1943 (Tuesday/Wednesday)

Unit: No. 141 Squadron (motto: Caedimus Noctu - 'We slay by night') 11 Group

Type: Beaufighter IF

Serial: V8266

Code: TW-?

Base: RAF Ford, Sussex

Location: English Channel

Pilot: Fl/Sgt. Lionel Kesson Guthrie NZ/404637 RNZAF Age 26. Missing - believed killed

Nav: Fl/Sgt. John Wellesley Wellington 1314415 RAFVR Age 21. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off at 23;25 hrs on a practice ground controlled interception and patrol.

When about 30 miles from base at 5,000 ftsuffered a starboard engine failure. It seemed that the windmilling propeller could not be feathered which led to a loss of height.

At 00:15 hrs the Beaufighter crashed into the sea 5 miles from Shoreham-on-Sea, only the body of the navigator was recovered.

Burial details:

Fl/Sgt. Lionel Kesson Guthrie. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 199. Born on the 15th April 1916 at Wanganui. A farm hand on his fathers farm at Ohakune prior to service. Served 4 years in the territorial army. Enlisted in the RNZAF at Levin on the on the 20th November 1940 as an air gunner but remastered as a pilot u/t on the 21st December 1940. Trained in Canada and awarded his pilots badge and promoted to sergeant on the 08th August 1941. Joined 141 squadron on the 08th January 1942 after conversion trains with 54 Operational Training Unit. Son of Kesson Campbell Guthrie and Clarice Ruby Guthrie (nee Hamilton), of Ohakune, Wellington, New Zealand. 545 flying hours logged - 162 on the Beaufighter. 44 operational sorties completed.

Fl/Sgt. John Wellesley Wellington. Shaw Cemetery, Newbury. Grave 809. Son of George Wellesley Wellington and Florence Emily Wellington, of Newbury, England.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to Jenifer Lemaire and to the extensive research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Auckland Library Heritage Collection, AWMM, Weekly News of New Zealand, other sources as quoted below:

KTY 23-03-2021

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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 MWO 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', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, 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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