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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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Bomber Command Crest
07/08.09.1943 12 OTU Wellington III BJ621 Sgt. William Shepherd

Operation: Training

Date: 7th/8th September 1943 (Tuesday/Wednesday)

Unit No: "B" Flight, 12 Operational Training Unit (OTU)

Type: Wellington III

Serial: BJ621

Code: JP:?

Base: RAF Chipping Warden

Location: Ebdon Mill, Bridgnorth

Pilot: Sgt. William Shepherd 1551889 RAFVR Age 21. MiA

Observer: Sgt. Francis George Wells 953542 RAFVR Age 26. MiA

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. George Donald Edgar Morrow R163708 RCAF Age 26. KiA

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. Walter Henry Lawrence 1388668 RAFVR Age 19. KiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Sgt. Norman Leslie Wachter 425911 RAAF Age 19. KiA

Above left to right: Sgt. Wells, Sgt. Morrow, Sgt. Wachter

REASON FOR LOSS:The Court of Inquiry determined that Wellington III BJ621 took off from Chipping Warden at 21:50 hrs on the 7th September to carry out a night cross country and bombing exercise of an estimated duration of 5 hours.

Note: In the opinion of the acting Flight Commander of "B" Flight, Sgt. Shepherd was a capable average pilot with no special faults and that his instrument flying was good. To the best of his knowledge he was in good health and did not appear to have any worries.

Various position reports were received placing the aircraft accurately on track and accurate to ETAs, the last message received gave the position at Somerton at 23:45 hrs.

At about 00:30 hrs on the 8th September 1943 the aircraft dived vertically into the ground about 3 miles SW of Bridgnorth.

In the opinion of the Court of Inquiry the cause of the accident was:

Loss of control during night flying;
There was no evidence to establish why such a loss of control occurred, but it was considered to be due to atmospheric conditions;
That the pilot was fatigued due to the amount of recent flying and this was a contributory factor. Note: the Commanding Officer of the Training Wing that this crew was detailed to fly six consecutive days and nights on cross countries which was contrary to all orders issued by him.


Update 20th August 2023: Keith Gardner whose uncle was Sgt. Shepherd, contacted Aircrew Remembered on the 20th August 2023, who, with the generous help of local residents and the owner of the field at Ebdon Mill the actual site of the crash was found. To this day crops do not prosper because of the fuel spilled from the aircraft crash. Small pieces of metal continue to surface to this day.


Update 13th September 2023: Keith Gardner informed us that on the 8th September 2023, 80 years exactly from the date of the crash, the site was visited by the nephew and niece of Sgt. William Shepherd. In addition, a wreath was placed at the local parish church, Middleton Scriven, together with a note of remembrance to the five aircrew killed on that day.


On the 9th November 2024 Julian Millington of Euden Mill, Bridgnorth, Shropshire WV1 66RF has a small Museum which includes a display honouring the crew of BJ621.


Above photograph showing most of the crew - marked as Sections 1 and 2. (Available at a higher resolution to interested parties/relatives - courtesy Michael Wells) Names reproduced in order to enable search engines to pick up the names of the crews.

Rear L-R: Sgt. Morrow, Sgt. Lawrence, Sgt. Wells, Sgt. Shepherd, Sgt. Eaton, Sgt. Eaton, Sgt. Stringer, Sgt. Davey, Sgt. Rodrique, Sgt. Merritt, Sgt. Bishop. Centre: Sgt. Martin, Sgt. Grant, Sgt. Masters, Sgt. Nathanson, Sgt. Taylor, Sgt. Symmons, Sgt. Sutherland, Sgt. James, Sgt. Berkley, Sgt. Notley. Front: Sgt. Clough, Sgt. Irving, Sgt. Gage, P/O. Warren, P/O. Denham, P/O. Freeman, P/O. Downing, Sgt. Farquarson, Sgt. Stean, Sgt. Gauson.

Notes (supplied by Michael Wells, son of Sgt. Francis Wells):

"It is thought that it was the pilot's (Bill Shepherd) 21st birthday and was to be the last training flight before converting to Lancasters and going on operations.The crew had a short leave just prior to the accident and joined my mother at a pub in Shrewsbury where we were staying. People were asking the crew about the flying and they said that the aircraft were in a poor state and 'not fit to fly'. They also said that if they encountered a problem with the aircraft they would bale out rather than try to save it.

The initial response to my mothers request for information on the cause of the accident she was that it could have been a problem with the oxygen system or carbon monoxide poisoning from the heating system which was ducted warm air from the exhausts. Interesting in that the official report does not mention this."

Aircrew Remembered Note: Unfortunately this is heresay and is not reflected by the Court of Inquiry for this Wellington. Firstly, BJ621 was test flown earlier on the night of the 7th September 1943 to carry out a night flying test and the pilot reported that the airframe and engines were satisfactory in every respect. Furthermore in the opinion of the Court of Enquiry that there was no evidence of structural failure of the airframe during this flight.

On impact the aircraft completely disintegrated and sadly only three of the crew could be identified from their personal effects.


Burial details:

Above: The Runnymede Memorial

Sgt. William Shepherd. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 154. Son of William and Janet Gillespie Shepherd, of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Sgt. Francis George Wells. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 169. Son of George and Elizabeth Wells, husband of Iris Wells, father to Michael, of Hall Green, Birmingham, England.

Sgt. George Donald Edgar Morrow. Chester Cemetery (Blacon) Sec. A. Grave 905. Grave inscription reads: “THE LORD GAVE AND THE LORD HATH TAKEN AWAY.” Born on the 29th November 1916 in Seaforth, Ontario. Son of Gilbert R. and Dallina (née Morrison) Morrow of Big Beaver, Saskatchewan, Canada.

He had two brothers who also served when he enlisted:

Gilbert R. Morrow who was serving at RCAF Station Trenton;
Robert A. Morrow who was serving at RCAF Station Toronto.

Sgt. Walter Henry Lawrence. Chester Cemetery (Blacon) Sec. A. Grave 156. Grave inscription reads: “THOSE THAT LIVE IN OUR HEARS DO NOT DIE. DEARLY LOVED. SADLY MISSED.” Son of John Thomas Lawrence and Susan Lawrence, of Walthamstow, Essex, England.

Sgt. Norman Leslie Wachter. Chester Cemetery (Blacon) Sec. A. Grave 199. Grave inscription reads: “FAR FROM THOSE WHO LOVED HIM BEST. IN A HERO’S GRAVE HE LIES.” Born on the 21st October 1923 the son of Leslie Harry Otto and Ivy May Wachter, of Moggill Road, Kenmore, Queensland, Australia.

Enlisted in the RAAF on the 21st May 1942. After training in both Australia and the UK he was posted to 12 OTU at Chipping Warden on the 27th July 1943.

Researched by John Williams for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the the crew and their families (Aug 2016) . Thanks also to Mr. Michael Wells (son of Sgt. Francis Wells) who contacted us with further information and photographs (Oct 2016). Review and updated by Aircrew Remembered and Keith Gardner (Aug 2023). New update added for 80th anniversary (Sep 2023). Thanks to Julian Millington for the information about his museum display (Nov 2024)

Other sources listed below:

RS 09.11.2024 - Addition of Museum information

Pages of Outstanding Interest
History Airborne Forces •  Soviet Night Witches •  Bomber Command Memories •  Abbreviations •  Gardening Codenames
CWGC: Your Relative's Grave Explained •  USA Flygirls •  Axis Awards Descriptions •  'Lack Of Moral Fibre'
Concept of Colonial Discrimination  •  Unauthorised First Long Range Mustang Attack
RAAF Bomb Aimer Evades with Maquis •  SOE Heroine Nancy Wake •  Fane: Motor Racing PRU Legend
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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Last Modified: 09 November 2024, 13:06

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