Mosquito NT241 at East Moor airfield.
On 29th January 1946 this No.54 Operational Training Unit aircraft suffered an engine failure in the air during a night training flight, the pilot's approach to land at East Moor was too fast and the aircraft ran out of runway before it came to a halt. The aircraft overturned after overshooting and caught fire. The navigator was sadly killed but the pilot was able to scramble clear before a fire took hold and destroyed the aircraft.
Pilot - F/O Allan Roy Turner RAFVR (198165). Injured.
Navigator - F/Lt Kenneth Ian Thornton DFC RAFVR (146255), aged 23. Killed. Buried Bells Hill Burial Ground, Barnet, Hertfordshire.
Kenneth Thornton was the son of Harold Searles and Jenny Sharpe (nee Legget) Thornton at Hackney, London in Autumn 1922. F/Lt Thornton's DFC was gained for service with 85 Squadron and published in the London Gazette on 16th November 1945. He had received a commission to P/O on probation (emergency) on 19th June 1943 rising to F/O on probation (war subs) on 19th December 1943 and F/Lt (war subs) on 19th June 1945. His parents were living at Stanmore, Middlesex at the time of his death. The photograph of his gravestone was found on "www.findagrave.com".
Allan Turner dedicated much of his working life to the service of his Country. He was born on 21st January 1923 at Wandsworth, London and was the son of George Bernard and Elizabeth Jane (nee Francis) Turner. Who he served with during WW2 is not yet known. He received a commission to P/O on probation (emergency) on 14th May 1945, rising to F/O (war subs) on 14th November 1945. He married at Croyden, Surrey in Summer 1946. He initially relinquished his Commission on 19th April 1961 but then appears to have then joined the RAF again and was still in the RAF in 1988, finally relinquishing his Commission on 24th June 1988 but retaining the rank of F/Lt. He died in Shropshire in 2015.
Mosquito NT241 was built by De Havilland at Leavesden and was delivered as new to 218 MU on 26th November 1944. The aircraft was taken on charge by 456 Squadron on 16th December 1944. On 5th July 1945 the aircraft was flown to 44 MU before being taken on charge by 54 O.T.U. but the date it was taken on charge is not given on the AM Form 78. As a result of the crash on 29th January 1946 Cat.E/FA damage was the damage assessment and the aircraft was struck off charge.