Operation: Training

Date: 24th August 1940 (Saturday)

Unit: No. 11 Operational Training Unit

Type: Wellington IA

Serial: N2945

Code: -

Base: RAF Bassingbourn / RAF Jurby

Location: Bradda Head, Isle of Man

Pilot: Sgt. Royston Thomas Richardson 740461 RAFVR Age 23. Missing - believed killed

Pilot 2: Sgt. Edward Gordon Turner 741188 RAFVR Age ? Missing - believed killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Richard Sidney Hartnell 568749 RAFVR Age 20. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Hubert Geoffrey Ives 904303 RAFVR Age 21. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Frank Arthur Edwin Gates 643900 RAF Age 20. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Cecil Alfred Victor Attwood 643865 RAFVR Age 19. Missing - believed killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Eric Richard Eastoe 754751 RAFVR Age 19. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Evan John Stephens 967065 RAFVR Age ? Missing - believed killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

The aircraft left RAF Jurby with a crew of seven on the evening of Saturday 24th August 1940 for a night navigation exercise having previously arrived from RAF Bassingbourn. The intended route was around the south of the island but at 21:45 hrs it crashed into the sea off Bradda Head, Port Erin with loss of all on board crew.

The cause of the crash was never established.

The body of Sgt. Richard Hartnell was washed up on the 15th September 1940 at Fleshwick Bay (Identified by his watch - which had stopped at 21:45 hrs). That of Sgt. Frank Gates was found on the beach at Creggans Mooar, Dalby on 27th October 1940.

Burial details:

Sgt. Royston Thomas Richardson. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 18. No further details - are you able to assist?

Sgt. Edward Gordon Turner. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 20. No further details - are you able to assist?

Sgt. Richard Sidney Hartnell. St Patricks Churchyard, Jurby. Grave 239. The son of Sidney George and Florence May (née Jones) Hartnell, of Southsea, Hampshire, England. Grave inscription reads: "Blessed Are The Pure In Heart".

Sgt. Hubert Geoffrey Ives. Tonbridge Cemetery. Grave 3946, Section A. The son of Harry and Ethel (née North) Ives, of Tonbridge, Kent, England.

Sgt. Frank Arthur Edwin Gates. St Patricks Churchyard, Jurby. Grave 337. The son of Arthur. G. and Kathleen B. (née Engledow ) Gates, of Woolton, Liverpool, England. Grave inscription reads: "This Heart, A Pulse In The Eternal Mind, At Peace Under An English Heaven"

Sgt. Cecil Alfred Victor Attwood. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 11. The son of Cecil Victor and Jessie (née Martin) Attwood of Tolworth, Surrey, England.

Sgt. Eric Richard Eastoe. Queens Road Cemetery, Walthamstow. Grave 857, Section C. The son of Charles Richard and Dorothy Louisa (née Preston) Eastoe, of Highams Park, London, England.

Sgt. Evan John Stephens. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 19. No further details - are you able to assist?

Researched for Aircrew Remembered - November 2018 by Mike McQuaid and HamishK. For further details our thanks to the following sources shown below.

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