Wellington X3451 near Askern.
On the night of 5th / 6th May 1942 the crew of this 150 Squadron aircraft were tasked with flying an operational flight to Stuttgart where they bombed the aerodrome. The front turret had become unservicable during the course of the flight and by the time the aircraft reached Yorkshire it was also suffering starboard engine trouble. An oil leak within the front turret was splattering the cockpit glazing with oil and obscured his vision. With the aircraft flying at 2,000 feet at the time the starboard engine then failed, by the time the pilot had feathered the propeller on the failed engine and regained control the aircraft was down to just 200 feet above the ground. He was unable to reach an airfield so made a force-landing in a field near Askern, to the north of Doncaster, at 02.15hrs. The aircraft was badly damaged and two of the airmen sustained leg injuries that saw them treated in Doncaster Royal Infirmary.
150 Squadron personnel are not easy to research, many of the UK-based aircrew seem to have been posted away before the unit transferred to North Africa. Tracing where they went is not easy. In September 2012 I was fortunate to be contacted by the pilot's daughter who has been researching her father's flying for many years and has kindly supplied much of the information shown on this page relating to her father.
Pilot - F/Sgt Richard Bradburn Davenport RNZAF (NZ.404343).
Second Pilot - Sgt Frederick Sellers RAF (655017). Injured.
Navigator - P/O Owen Horace Morgan RCAF (J/7021).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Donald William Edington RAFVR (1056130). Injured.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt George Gordon Empey RCAF (R/78439).
Air Gunner - Sgt Samuel Norris RAFVR (1384133).
Wellington X3451 was built to contract B.92439/40 by Vickers Armstrong's Ltd. at Squires Gate, Blackpool. It was received by 51 MU on 21st November 1941 and was taken on charge by 9 Squadron at Honington on 24th December 1941. On 27th January 1942 it was transferred to 75 Squadron at Mildenhall when they began conversion from Mk.Ic's to Mk.III Wellingtons. In the next few days it passed through various squadrons, it was sent to 150 Squadron at Snaith on 2nd April 1942, to 419 Squadron at Mildenhall on an unknown date and was then returned to 75 Squadron at Mildenhall on 8th April 1942. The date it was then transferred back to 150 Squadron at Snaith is not recorded on it's AM Form 78. As a result of the crash at Askern on 6th May 1942 Cat.E2/FB damage was recorded and it was written off. It was struck off charge on 11th May 1942.
Four members of this crew, left to right, Morgan, Sellers, Empey and Davenport, taken at Snaith in 1942.
Two photographs of the crashed Wellington X3451 near Askern in May 1942. These photographs originated through the navigator Owen Morgan who was traced by a local man Colin Beetham who had visited the crash site at the time as a young boy and researched the incident and crew in later years. The photograph shown below confirm that the engine nearest the camera must have been the one with the problems as the propeller appears not to have been turning at the time of the crash. The propeller blade at the top is intact and would have broke off had it been rotating. In a letter written by the navigator he stated that the starboard wing caught in some bushes which spun the aircraft around to come to rest where it did, he believed that had this not happened the aircraft would have crashed into the buildings shown behind the aircraft in the photograph above.
During his time with 150 Squadron he was involved in a number of flying accidents. The first was on 16th November 1941 to Wellington T2618 which crashed near Kellington on return from an operational flight to Boulogne (detailed on this website on this webpage. His daughter kindly adds that his next flight was on 30th November 1941 which turned out to be the first of 106 seperate flights with P/O Owen Morgan over the coming months; both non-operational and operational. On 25th March 1942 he was second pilot of Wellington X3175 which undertook an operational flight to bomb Essen, the aircraf tsustained minor flak damage though the crew were able to return safely to base. X3175 was found to have received nine holes from flak upon inspection at base but cannot have been seriously damaged as he was again it's second pilot three days later on Ops to St.Nazaire. On 6th May 1942 he was the pilot of Wellington X3451 that crashed near Askern on return from bombing Stuttgart (detailed above). Just eight days after this serious crash he married Celia Jones in Goole (with Harry Guy as bestman).
The citation almost certainly refers to his crash detailed at the top of this page. He was presented with the medal at Buckingham Palace 1st February 1944. He was also Mentioned in Despatches on 17th September 1943. He was still alive and well in Canada in 2002 and exchanged information with both Mrs Gollan and Mr Colin Beetham from where the photographs shown on this page originated. I thank all concerned for their input in allowing this incident and the crew's service to be shown in detail.
Richard Davenport's daughter Finola kindly contacted me in September 2012 and supplied a very detailed account of her father's life. Richard Davenport was born on 1st July 1918 in Te Kuiti, New Zealand, after leaving school he begun working as a clerk at Dalgety and Co Ltd, Te Kuiti and studied accountancy. Richard learnt to fly in New Zealand at the outbreak of the war when a local solicitor offered any young man flying leasons who wished to join the RNZAF. He enlisted into the RNZAF on 20th November 1940 and after initial training left for Canada in May 1941. He was then posted to England in July 1941 after further training, arriving at 11 OTU at Bassingbourn on 19th July 1941. He was posted to 150 Squadron on 8th October 1941 with whom he served until 31st July 1942 had flown in 37 operational flights, completing 27 bombing operations and two mine laying flights. After service with 150 Squadron he went down the route of training as a flying instructor, his initial posting was to 12 OTU but on 3rd September 1942 he was posted to No.3 Flying Instructor School at Castle Combe then back to 12 OTU a month later where he served until January 1945. He received a commission to the rank of P/O on 11th July 1943 and was promoted to F/O on 11th January 1944. Post-war he returned to New Zealand and went back to a civilian life. He retired in 1979 and died in Te Kuiti in November 1992.
Owen Morgan was born in Rosedale, Alberta, Canada in October 1918 and had served in the Westminster Militia before enlisting into the RCAF in Vancouver in November 1940. He was commissioned in August 1941 and posted to 150 Squadron on completion of his training in the UK. He was awarded the DFC for service with 150 Squadron, the notification for this appeared in the London Gazette on 6th November 1942, the citation for the award has been traced by Hugh Halliday and it reads.. "Flying Officer Morgan has participated in attacks on some of the most heavily defended targets. Despite being seriously handicapped by air sickness and being involved in two severe crashes, his morale has remained unshaken and his determination has never wavered. This officer has frequently brought his crew back safely to base through extremely bad weather. With the aircraft damaged and the wireless unserviceable, he has displayed outstanding ability as navigator and his sustained courage and unusual initiative have been a magnificent example to his crew."
Sgt Edington broke his ankle in the incident recorded above near Askern. He later received a commission in June 1943 and survived the War.
George Norris was awarded the DFC for service with 115 Squadron, Gazetted on 26th May 1944.
After enlisting and basic training Samuel Norris was posted to 22 OTU at Wellesbourne Mountford on 1st August 1941 where he trained on Wellingtons. He completed the course on 13th September 1941 and was posted to 150 Squadron. He first flew with Richard Davenport as his captain on 12th April 1942 and was his regular air gunner until 29th July 1942 completing 20 operational flights with him. Through contact with his nephew Mr Mark Wood in October 2012 he was able to add much of this detail into his great uncle's life and service career. The day before the incident at Askern in Wellington Z3451 Sgt Norris had set out for an operational flight to Hamburg in the aircraft but the crew were forced to return early due to the engine suffering supercharger trouble. It is possible that the aircraft had suffered a similar problem which resulted in the engine failure when it crashed at Askern. Sam Norris completed his Tour and was later posted to 622 Squadron. On the night of 31st May / 1st June 1944 he was flying in Lancaster LL782 on an operational flight to bomb Trappes when the aircraft failed to return to base. He is buried in a joint grave with F/Sgt Bernhardt RCAF who was in the same aircraft in Poigny-La-Foret Cemetery, Yvelines, France. W/O Norris was twenty four years old.