Operation: Training

Date: 24 September 1942 (Thursday)

Unit: No. 53 Operational Training Unit (OTU)

Type: Supermarine Spitfire IIa

Serial: P7319

Code: ‘Lahore’ (Presentation aircraft from India)

Base: RAF Llandow, Glamorgan, Wales (1)

Location: St Athan, Glamorgan, Wales

Crew

Pilot: Sgt. Nelson Cremer Turner, NZ/39780, RNZAF, Age 24 - Killed

Reason for Loss

Sergeant Turner was on a routine training flight when his aircraft suffered a catastrophic engine failure above the village of St Athan. At approximately two miles from Llandow, the engine of the Spitfire burst into flames. Recognising the severity of the situation, Sergeant Turner attempted an emergency bail-out.

Despite successfully leaving the aircraft, Sergeant Turner’s parachute failed to deploy properly. He fell to the ground just south of the village centre of St Athan and was killed instantly on impact. The unmanned Spitfire continued its descent, crashing into a large field just outside the perimeter of RAF St Athan, near the boundary of the village.

Accident Investigation

A subsequent investigation by RAF authorities determined that the engine failure was likely due to a mechanical fault or a fuel-related fire. The exact cause could not be conclusively identified because of the extensive damage to the aircraft. The failure of Sergeant Turner’s parachute was considered a rare malfunction, adding to the tragic outcome of the incident.

Conclusion

The loss of Spitfire IIa P7319 and Sergeant Nelson Cremer Turner highlights the dangers faced by aircrew during training exercises, even far from enemy action. Despite the routine nature of the flight, unforeseen mechanical issues and equipment failure resulted in a fatal accident.

Burial Details

Sergeant Nelson Cremer Turner was buried on 28 September 1942 at Llantwit Major Cemetery (2), Section C, Grave 31. He was born on 8 July 1918 in New Plymouth, New Zealand, and attended Thames High School from 1931 to 1933, consistent with his father’s post at Hikutaia, before moving to Auckland Grammar School, where he entered in 1934 and matriculated in 1935. He worked in insurance rather than general clerical work, specifically at the North British and Mercantile Insurance Company’s office in Auckland, before enlisting.

He was the son of Edgar Turner (died 1949, aged 62) and Mildred Adelaide Turner (née Plowright, died 1964, aged 62). His older brother, Noel George Manning Turner, NZ/412992, also served in the RNZAF; he survived the war, passing away on 19 January 1966, aged 53.

Notes

(1) RAF Llandow sat in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, about fifteen miles west of Cardiff. It began life in 1937 as a grass airstrip, first used by No. 614 (County of Glamorgan) Squadron, which formed there flying Hawker Hind and Hector aircraft before relocating to RAF Odiham at the outbreak of war.

The airfield reopened on 1 April 1940 under No. 38 Maintenance Unit, tasked with the reception, storage and despatch of RAF aircraft - this remained the airfield’s core wartime function throughout the war. The stored aircraft types were remarkably varied, including Tiger Moths, Fairey Battles, Fox Moths, Bristol Blenheims, Spitfires, Whitleys, Lancaster bombers, Albemarles, and American Boston light bombers. Hard runways and permanent hangars, including a run of Super Robin hangars, were built in late 1941 to support this storage role.

From June 1941, No. 53 Operational Training Unit’s B Flight, flying Spitfires, arrived at Llandow, using a satellite station at RAF Rhoose (now Cardiff Airport). Notably, it was during training here in 1941 that John Gillespie Magee Jr. wrote his famous poem ‘High Flight.’ The unit moved on to Kirton in Lindsey in 1943.

No. 3 Overseas Aircraft Preparation Unit formed at Llandow in July 1942, preparing aircraft such as Beaufighters, Warwicks, Wellingtons and Venturas for shipment abroad. In April 1944, transport flights formed there too: No. 1312 Flight remained based until 21 July 1944, flying Avro Ansons to transport urgent personnel to and from the Normandy landings area. Transport Command’s central night-vision training school was also formed at Llandow in April 1944.

The airfield itself was bombed twice - in a raid on 15 July 1940 and a further attack in August 1940. A separate account notes a 1941 attack that caused significant damage to buildings and injuries to personnel.

By 1946, several hundred surplus aircraft sat at Llandow awaiting disposal, and No. 614 Squadron returned in 1946-47 as a postwar fighter squadron.

(2) Llantwit Major Cemetery: the War Graves Plot is enclosed on two sides by the stone wall marking the cemetery boundary. The Cross of Sacrifice stands on the western side of the plot, near the entrance.

Early in the 1939-45 War, a piece of ground was set aside by the local authorities in Section C, in the south-eastern corner of the cemetery, for service war burials, which became the War Graves Plot.

Most of the airmen buried here came from the large RAF station at St Athan, near Barry, and some from RAF Llandow, near Cowbridge. Many of them were killed in flying accidents while training.

Sources and Acknowledgements

• New Zealand Cenotaph
• Errol Martin, For Your Tomorrow, Vols. 1-3
• Royal Air Force Museum
• Aircrew Remembered Archives
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• Barry Daily Post
• Ngā Niupepa Newspapers New Zealand