Wellington N2783 near Rossington, Finningley.
On 9th November 1941 the crew of this 25 Operational Training Unit aircraft took off from Finningley to undertake a night training exercise. At 21.15hrs the aircraft crashed near Old Rossington village and sadly four of the six on board were killed. The crash investigation considered that the altimeter may have been incorrectly set prior to take
off and the aircraft had probably flown into the ground. The air pressure had dropped at low level considerably and rapidly between the time the aircraft took off and the crash occurring. This was believed to have been the likely cause of the crash with the altimeter being set with air pressure different at ground level to the time it crashed, causing the needle to point incorrectly. The unit AOC states "cause obscure" on the accident record.
Wellington N2783 was built to contract 992424/39 by Vickers Armstrong Ltd. at Chester and was awaiting collection in July 1940. It was received by 45 MU on 25th July 1940 and after a period of MU storage it was taken on charge by 57 Squadron at Wyton on 10th November 1940 who were in the process of converting from Blenheim IV's to Wellington Ic's at
the time. On 20th November 1940 it would have moved with this unit to Feltwell. On 21st April 1941 it was transferred to 149 Squadron at Snaith where it remained
for a short period. On 27th June 1941 it was sent to the Vickers Service Aircraft Section at Brooklands for some form of work to be carried out. Once complete on 30th September 1941 it passed to 44 MU before being taken on charge by 25 O.T.U. at Finningley on 25th October 1941. As a result of the accident at Rossington on 9th November 1941 Cat.E2/FA damage was recorded. It was struck off charge on 16th November 1941.
Pilot - Sgt Henry Clifford Howard RAAF (400471), aged 22, of Melbourne, Victoria, Austarlia. Buried Finningley Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Observer - Sgt Arthur John Coe RNZAF (404530), of Irwell, Canterbury, New Zealand. Injured.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Frank Morton Oddy RAFVR (1308648), aged 26, of Shipley, Yorkshire. Buried Nab Wood Cemetery, Shipley, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Willie Holden RAFVR (992165), aged 22, of Bradford. Buried Bowing Cemetery, Bradford, Yorkshire.
Air Gunner - Sgt Reginald Wilton Durdin RAAF (407201), aged 27, of Lameroo, South Australia. Buried Finningley Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Air Gunner - Sgt Clifford William Musto RAAF (406149), of Perth, Western Australia. Suffered facial injuries.
Sgt Coe was initially admitted to Doncaster Infirmary and transferred to the RAF Hospital Rauceby on 19 November 1941. Errol Martin reports in his work
on RNZAF casualities that as a result of this accident he had two fingers amputated, he also sustained a fractured right leg and suffered burns to his ears
and face. He was discharged from hospital in January 1942 and was repatriated to New Zealand on 10th May 1941 for ground duties. He then returned to the UK
to become air-crew again, he left New Zealand in October 1943 and was accepted for flying duties later and commissioned. He was later posted to 487 Squadron
and sadly killed on 6th April 1945 flying in Mosquito SZ900, the aircraft crashed soon after taking off from Rosieres-en-Santerre. Both he and his pilot were
buried on 11th April 1945 at the Anzac Cemetery at Villers Bretonneux, in the Somme area, France, this was a cemetery used in WW1 and contains over 1500 WW1
military personnel. F/O Coe was twenty five years old. My thanks to Graham Sharpe for the photograph of his grave.
Reg Durdin was born in December 1913 in North Adelaide, he married in March 1939 and had one child and was worked as a farm lorry driver prior to enlisting
into the RAAF on 20th July 1940 in Adelaide. At the time he enlisted he was unemployed. He arrived at 25 OTU on 8th September 1941.
Henry Howard was born on 10th April 1919 in Norwood, South Australia, he enlisted into the RAAF in Melbourne.
Clifford Musto was born in May 1914 in Applecross, Western Australia and was working as a vuncaniser when he enlisted on 15th August 1940 in Perth. He
was married on 1st May 1941 and sailed for the UK on 10th June 1941, his wife gave birth to a baby boy after he was posted overseas. He arrived at 25 OTU
on 8th September 1941. Following the accident at Rossington he recovered from his injuries and completed his training, he was posted to 207 Squadron on 17th
February 1942 but was sadly killed on Ops on 10th / 11th August 1942.
