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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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No 230 Badge
15/16.03.1950 No 230 OCU Avro Lincoln Mk II B2 RF511 Squadron Leader John Talbot Lovell Shore MC AFC

Operation: Night Training Navigation Flight

Date: 15/16th March 1950 (Wednesday/Thursday)

Unit: No. 230 OCU (Operational Conversion Unit)

Type: Avro Lincoln Mk2

Serial: B2

Code: RF511

Base: RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire

Location: Between Dadfydd and Carnedd Llewellyn, near Snowdon, Wales

Pilot: Sqr/Ldr. John Talbot Lovell Shore MC. AFC. 39177 RAF Age 33. Killed (1)

Fl/Eng: Engr II. Ronald Albert Forsdyke DFC. 621781 RAF Age 29. Killed (2)

Nav: Fl/Lt. Cyril Alfred Lindsey 168013 RAF Age 26. Killed (3)

R/Op/: Sig III. Harold Henry Charman 3045502 RAF Age 22. Killed (4)

Air/Gnr: Gnr II. Godfrey Leo Cundy 1815207 RAF Age 26. Killed (5)

Air/Gnr: Gnr I. Robert Henry Wood 1110083 RAF Age 27. Killed


If you have any further information on the loss of this aircraft, crew, their relatives and friends then please contact us via the Helpdesk or the Add Info button at the top of this page


REASON FOR LOSS:

Avro Lincoln RF511 took off from RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire at 19:10 hrs for a night training navigation exercise. The aircraft was making a controlled descent through thick cloud, having been diverted to RAF Valley in Anglesey due to the very bad weather. The aircraft may have been on the wrong course which resulted in it crashing between Dadfydd and Carnedd Llewellyn, near Snowdon, Wales at 14:30hrs.

avro-lincoln-shore-pilot-w800

Avro Lincoln Mk II (courtesy Imperial War Museum) John Talbot Lovell Shore (courtesy of the Shore family)


lincoln-002-w760-1-w800

Parts of the wreckage of Avro Lincoln RF511 taken by the Shore brothers when they visited the crash site (courtesy of the Shore family)


Battle Cemetery, Sussex (courtesy of the CWGC)

john talbot shore headstone

Headstone for John Talbot Lovell Shore (courtesy of the Shore family)

The memorial plaque was erected at the crash site by Rex, Mark and Ian Shore in memory of all the crew who lost their lives that night. (courtesy of the Shore family)

Burial Details:


john talbot newspaper obit

Squadron Leader John Talbot Lovell Shore. MC, AFC. Battle Cemetery, Sussex. Grave Section A. Grave No. DN. C. Son of Walter Lovell Shore and Pearl Baldwin Shore. Husband of June Shore of Battle, Sussex. (1) Born 29th April 1917 John Talbot Lovell Shore enlisted on the 17th August 1936. On the 27th March 1941 John and his crew made a forced landing in Holland and all the crew became prisoners of war. John escaped from Stalag Luft I Barth and made a home-run arriving back in the UK by 28th October 1941. Awarded the Military Cross 13th March 1942 for his escape and home run.


Flight Lieutenant John T L Shore was posted to RAF Churchstanton 27th April 1942 - 12th March 1944. RAF Churchstanton was formed in the spring of 1942. A little-known experimental unit. It carried out secret trials flying a variety of types of aircraft on 'impact flights' flying into cables suspended from barrage balloons. These extremely hazardous trials also included the development of other systems involving the use of cables, such as the Long Aerial Mine (this mine was towed by a bomber with the aim of blowing up a fighter in pursuit).


Other work included dropping wind-armed bombs, various parachute designs, the testing of bombs fused by photoelectric cells and proximity pistols. While flying a Hurricane aircraft on the 18th September 1942 the aircraft's radiator was holed in the impact, with the result that the engine seized and a crash landing had to be made. Again on the 21st November 1942 while flying in a Battle aircraft on impact experiments the apparatus under test caused the elevator to jam. John made a nose-down forced landing at Morfa Towyn, Wales. The pilot and observer were uninjured.


Acting Squadron Leader John Talbot Lovell Shore was also awarded the AFC (Air Force Cross) as per London Gazette 1st January 1944 'Squadron Leader J.T.L. Shore, Experimental Section RAE, This officer is a test pilot and has commanded a detached flight for the last 8 months.



This flight carried out test of aircraft flying into balloon barrage wires and various anti-raider devices. Squadron Leader Shore has completed 271 hours flying on this work and has made 330 impacts into barrage wires. The work requires a high degree of courage and considerable ability as a pilot, and the successes which have been obtained have been almost entirely due to Squadron Leader Shore (supported by C.R.D.,M.A.P.)'




Engr II. Ronald Albert Forsdyke DFC. Maeshyeryd Cemetery, Holyhead, Anglesey. Grave section 3. Grave No. 325. Son of Ernest Henry and Mary Ann Forsdyke. Husband of Eileen J. Forsdyke. (2) Ronald was born on the 1st March 1921. Ronald had been awarded the DFC after completing a tour of duty with courage and devotion to duty while serving with No 61 (RCAF) Squadron

Fl/Lt. Cyril Alfred Lindsey. Willesden New Cemetery, Brent, London. Grave Section A. Grave No. 517. Son of Edward William and Elizabeth Sarah Lindsey. Husband of Eileen E. Lindsey. (3) Born on the 2nd January 1924. Pilot Officer on probation Cyril Alfred Lindsey was confirmed as a Pilot Officer and promoted to Flying Officer on the 16th September 1945. On the 16th September 1948 Cyril was then promoted to Flight Lieutenant

Sig III. Harold Henry Charman. Maeshyeryd Cemetery, Holyhead, Anglesey. Grave section 3. Grave No. 326. Son of Ernest James Luke and Ethel Charman. (4) Harold was born in 1928

cundy-geoffrey-leo-w800

Left: Godfrey Leo Cundy (courtesy of John MS Cundy)

Gnr II. Godfrey Leo Cundy. Huyton Parish Church, Liverpool. Grave No. 834. No further information of next of kin as yet (4).


Godfrey was born in the Hulme area of Manchester in 1923 and joined the RAF in the late 1940s. having been in a reserved occupation as a farm labourer near Matlock during the war years.


While in the RAF Godfrey had served in Cyprus and Palestine in ground trades before returning to the UK, after his death he was buried in a family grave at Huyton Parish Church. Godfrey's two brothers served with the armed forces during the war. One receiving a commission while with the Cheshire Regiment. He later transferred to the RAF, but returned to the Army in 1945




Gnr I. Robert Henry Wood. Willesden New Cemetery, Brent, London. Grave section Z. Grave No. 368. No further information of next of kin as yet

Researched by: Kate Tame, Senior Editor Aircrew Remembered, and for all the relatives and friends of the crew. With special thanks to Sqr/Ldr. Shore's sons Rex, Mark and Ian for their invaluable support and material, and thanks also to Colin Cummings - Last Take-Off, and Veterans UK

For further detailed accounts, we recommend the following publications: Bombers First and Last by Gordon Thorburn ISBN 1 86105 946 9. A Century of Air Warfare with Nine (IX) Squadron RAF by Gordon Thorburn ISBN 978 78303 634 9. Footprints on the Sands of Time by Oliver Clutton-Brock ISBN 1 904010 00 0. Last Take Off by Colin Cummings ISBN 0 9526619 2 6.

Please also read:

KT

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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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