Operation: Searchlight co-operation exercise
Date: 14th December 1941 (Sunday)
Unit: No. 263 Squadron (motto: Ex ungue leonem - "One knows the lion by his claws")
Type: Whirlwind I
Serial: P7044
Code: HE-?
Base: RAF Filton - RAF Charmy Down, Gloucestershire
Location: Near Coleford, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire
Pilot: Sgt. Derrick Ellis Prior, 1166018, RAFVR, Age 21 - Killed
Reason for Loss
Although the squadron was then based at RAF Filton, the aircraft had been positioned at RAF Charmy Down for the task, which was to take part in a searchlight co-operation exercise. During the flight the aircraft was seen to dive steeply from 4,000 ft and crash in a field attached to the Speech House, near Coleford, at around 10:30 hrs.
It is unclear whether the pilot lost control or the controls had iced up. It was also recorded that he had no previous night-flying experience, and only 51 recorded hours on the Whirlwind.
The commanding officer's view: the pilot flew into cloud and lost control, either through inexperience or because of possible icing.
The investigation's findings: while in cloud he was ordered to change course from 350° to 185°, almost a complete about-turn. It is thought that he slipped into a steepening spiral dive during the turn. He broke out of the cloud only about 300 ft above the ground, with no time to recover.
The CO's closing note: a Whirlwind needed around 8,000 ft to pull out of a vertical dive. Once he was diving blind in cloud, he had almost no chance of recovering.
He earned his wings on 5th April 1941, eight months before the crash, having trained at No. 31 Service Flying Training School in Canada under the wartime Commonwealth air training scheme. He had about 226 hours' total flying, of which only around 51 were on the Whirlwind, all solo. No night or instrument-flying hours are recorded. This supports the point about inexperience: he was a newly qualified pilot in a fast, demanding aircraft, flying in cloud.
A memorial stone was set into the boundary wall of the Speech House grounds, beside the crash site, and dedicated on 4th October 1998. More than 80 years after the crash, local people still clean and maintain the stone.
His family claimed his body and he was buried in the family grave. As this is a private grave, the CWGC has no power to maintain his headstone which, as can be seen below, has fallen over and is in very poor condition.
Burial Details
Sgt. Derrick Ellis Prior. St. Mary's Churchyard, Harmondsworth, London, England. Son of Harry William E.B. Prior (died 1971) and Amy Prior (died 1969), of Colnbrook, Buckinghamshire. (Private family plot)
(Note: The CWGC lists him as being killed on 15th December 1941. However, the Air Ministry Form 1180 and the squadron Operations Record Book both confirm that the crash, and his death, occurred on the morning of 14th December 1941.It also lists his service number as 166018?)
Sources and Acknowledgements
- Jacqui Freeguard (for bringing this tragedy to our attention)
- National Archives, Kew - AIR27-1548-66
- Aircrew Remembered Archives
- Aviation Safety Network
- RAF Accident Record Card (Air Ministry Form 1180) 2026-10-09 [initials] | Last edit: 2026-10-09 [initials]
- Find A Grave
Further Information
Height of the dive: the Aviation Safety Network gives the dive as starting from 4,000 ft, whereas the ORB records that he was flying at 8,000 to 10,000 ft. These may not conflict, as 4,000 ft may be the height at which witnesses on the ground first saw the aircraft. The Form 1180 states he broke cloud at about 300 ft.
Further details from the Form 1180: the card records the loss under Fighter Command, with the aircraft assessed as Category A (written off). Both Rolls-Royce Peregrine I engines (Nos. 150130 and 150129) were also written off. The aircraft caught fire on impact and no parachute was used. The card carries the reference A.337328/41, which may help in requesting further papers from The National Archives. In the six months before the crash he had flown about 51 hours on the Whirlwind and 44 hours on other types, a total of 95 hours.
No. 31 Service Flying Training School: No. 31 SFTS was at Kingston (Collins Bay), Ontario. It was the first RAF Service Flying Training School to be set up in Canada, having moved there from Peterborough, England, where it had been No. 7 SFTS. Its main role was training Fleet Air Arm pilots, but its early courses also included RAF trainees. The school flew single-engined Fairey Battles and Harvards, so the Whirlwind may have been one of his first twin-engined types.
No. 263 Squadron: the squadron was known as the "Fellowship of the Bellows" and carried the code letters HE from October 1939 to May 1950. Its badge, a red lion holding a cross, was approved in October 1941, only two months before Derrick's death. The lion signifies the squadron's link with Scotland, and the cross, taken from the Norwegian flag, refers to its 1940 operations in Norway, when it flew Gladiators from a frozen lake.
Place of burial: one contributor to the SunGreen website gives his burial place as Harmondsworth Burial Ground, West Drayton, rather than St. Mary's Churchyard. Harmondsworth Burial Ground is a separate burial ground, established in 1905 on land next to the churchyard and now run by the London Borough of Hillingdon. It may be worth confirming which is correct with Hillingdon Council's cemetery office.
Memorial stone: the stone is in the Speech House perimeter wall, near the Pavilion. Its inscription records his service number, rank, squadron and age, and states that he crashed there on the morning of 14.12.1941 flying Westland Whirlwind P7044. The memorial was featured in the Forest of Dean newsletter of November 2015.
Date of birth: no date of birth has been found in the records checked, and the date of birth box on the Form 1180 is blank. His age of 21 places his birth between mid-December 1919 and mid-December 1920. The 1939 Register and the GRO birth index should confirm the exact date.
Supplement Sources
- RAF Accident Record Card (Air Ministry Form 1180), as supplied
- SunGreen website, Coleford - Sgt Prior memorial at Speech House (sungreen.co.uk)
- Aviation Safety Network - Wikibase entry 209870, Whirlwind P7044
- Wikipedia - No. 263 Squadron RAF
- Heraldry of the World - No. 263 "Fellowship of the Bellows" Squadron badge
- Wikipedia - RCAF Station Kingston
- Parks & Gardens UK - St Mary's Churchyard, Harmondsworth Burial Ground and Harmondsworth Village Green
