Operation: Training

Date: 14th February 1941 (Friday)

Unit No: 235 Squadron (motto: Jaculamur Humi - 'We Strike Them to the Ground'), 16 Group, Coastal Command.

Type: Blenheim IVF

Serial: Z5970

Code: LA:L

Base: RAF Bircham Newton, Norfolk

Location: Great Croxton, Norfolk

Pilot: Sgt. William Mason 745149 RAFVR Age 24. Killed (1)

Obs: Sgt. Noel Mizpah Stanger 39943 RNZAF Age 24. Died of injuries (2)

WOp/Air Gnr. Sgt. Victor Cyril Pond 746722 RAFVR Age 22. Killed (3)

REASON FOR LOSS:

During a night cross country training flight the aircraft was seen to execute a gliding turn at 21:30 hrs after engines began misfiring. Shortly afterwards the engines failed completely.

Z5970 straightened out but continued to lose height, shortly after at 21:50 hrs the aircraft struck the ground at location shown.

The time of the crash is consistent with fuel exhaustion in the outer tanks.

Although poor visibility and enemy activity were also thought to have taken part in causing the accident.

Sgt. Mason and Sgt. Pond were killed in the crash and Sgt. Stanger was seriously injured but succumbed to his injuries the following day.

(1) William Mason was called up 1st September 1939. Joined 235 squadron on Blenheims from Bircham Newton 2nd October 1940. A former Battle of Britain pilot.

(2) Noel Mizpah Stanger worked as a farm assistant for R. G Smith of Oaharu prior to service. He was provisionally accepted for a short service concision in April 1939 but scheme lapsed at the outbreak of war. Enlisted at levin on the 26th October 1939. Initial training at No. 1 Elementary Flying Training School commencing 16th January 1940 then on to No. 1 Flying Training School on the 16th January 1940. Pilot training terminated in late January and re-mustered as an Observer the 10th February 1940. Joined the Air Observers School on the 13th February. Observer badge awarded and promoted to sergeant on the 27th May 1940.

Embarked for England on the 7th June 1940. Attached to 17 Operational Training Unit (OTU) 30th July. Joined 106 squadron on Hampdens 2nd October 1940. Then to 235 squadron on the 11th October 1940. Completed 25 operational sorties including 2 on air sea rescue.

The Stanger family had 5 sons serving in the war, the other 4 survived the war after serving in the army. Cpl. Peter Selwyn Stanger 245558. Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force served in Italy. Living in Oamaru. Pte. Basil Upston Stanger 5979. 2nd Div 1st Echelon, Petrol Companty, served in Greece,Crete, Italy. Died 2001 aged 87. Pte. Norman Orrice Stanger 18791. Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force served in Western Desert, died 26th April 1953 age 33. Lung disease attributed to inhalation of sand. Pte. Percival James Stanger 10476. 23rd Battalion served in Greece - taken Pow. Died 20th May 1949 age 30 of TB, thought to have contracted during captivity.

(3) Simon Hutchinson contacted Aircrew Remembered and informed us that Victor Pond was the first husband of his wife’s grandmother. He kindly provided the following photograph of the then LAC Victor Ponds marriage to Margaret Ladd in October 1939

Earlier that evening another from the squadron suffered a similar fate when diverted to RAF Langham after the landing lights were turned off due to enemy action. They were just about to touch down when the landing lights were turned off. Blenheim IVF V5431 LA:T hit a tree killing the observer Plt Off. Ernest Russell Phillips. The pilot, Plt Off. Joseph Thomas Ronald Chamberlain was seriously injured and spent the next eight months receiving treatment. He survived the was and died on the 21st September 2011. Sgt. Owen Valentine Burns escaped with a broken collarbone, he also survived the war, died on the 30th June 2015.

Burial details:

Sgt. William Mason. York Cemetery. Section D. Grave 26. 939. Grave inscription: 'RESTING IN GOD'S BEAUTIFUL GARDEN IN A LAND OF PERFECT PEACE'. Born in York, England. Son of Samuel and Elizabeth Mason, of York, England.

Sgt. Noel Mizpah Stanger. Bilton Churchyard (St Marks). Grave 4. Born on the 24th December 1916 at Herbert. Son of Peter Gorie Stanger (née Upston - died 7th July 1955, age 79) and Millicent Mabel Stanger (died 3rd March 1974, age 82), of Oamaru, New Zealand.

Sgt. Victor Cyril Pond. Southend-On-Sea Cemetery (Sutton Road). Born in the 2nd Qtr of 1918 in Richford, Essex. Son of Thomas George (deceased in November 1918) and Hilda Lucy Ella (née Browning) Pond of Southend-on-Sea, England. Husband to Margaret A. (née Ladd) Pond of Southend-on-Sea, England.

Researched by Kelvin Youngs (Webmaster) and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to the extensive research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Auckland Library Heritage Collection, Weekly News of New Zealand, Oamaru RSA (Oct 2021). Thanks to Simon Hutchinson for the photograph and additional information about Sgt. Pond (Sep 2024).

Other sources listed below:

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