Little did I appreciate when I created a basic version of this webpage that one of the airmen involved would read it and then contact me because of it. Unfortunately he was unable to recall much about the incident or what happened after it.
On 9th August 1943 the crew of this Anson were undertaking a night cross country navigation exercise, a number of other crews flying Ansons belonging to the same training unit (No.10 (O)AFU based at Dumfries) were in the air doing the same exercise. In bad visibility and with strong winds this aircraft strayed off the intended course and struck the ground close to the summit of Green Gable. All of the five airmen in the aircraft were injured to varying degrees. One of the less seriously injured men managed to find his way down to lower level and eventually to Seathwaite Farm in Borrowdale to get help. All survivors were admitted to Fusehill Hospital in Carlisle. An airman who survived this crash was found on a rock by a Miss Hilda Haller, who was a skilled nurse from Hickleton, South Yorkshire on holiday in the Lake District at the time. She found the airman and gave him first aid which would save his life. Rarely for Wartime incidents this live saving act was later recorded in the Westmoreland Times on 24th February 1944 following her commendation. One of the crew, Sgt Chowney, was Commended for Brave Conduct by King George VI on 31st December 1943 relating to his actions on this night and it seems likely that it was he who went for help down in Seathwaite. Three other Ansons from the same unit crashed in the Lake District on this night, incorrect weather reports were said to have been a contributing factor to all of the incidents occurring.
Pilot - Sgt Waclaw Panasik PAF (P.794954), aged 28. Buried Dumfries Catholic Cemetery.
Air Bomber - F/Sgt Ervin Albert Loppe RCAF (R/176010), aged 19. Buried Troqueer Cemetery, Dumfries.
Navigator - F/Lt John Philip Sargent Calder RCAF (J/4695). Injured.
Navigator - P/O Charles Edward Peake RAFVR (135917). Injured.
Wireless Operator - Sgt Geoffrey Montague Chowney RAFVR (1600232). Injured.
Waclaw Panasik was born on 3rd October 1914 at Zelwa, in Wolkowysk District, Poland. Sadly nothing more is known about him.
Ervin Loppe was born on 13th May 1924 in Glen Ewen, Saskatchewan, Canada and was the son of Berthold Herman and Hertha Loppe (nee Arndt). His father had moved to Saskatchewan from South Dakota, USA as a boy in 1894 though was born in Wisconsin. His mother Hertha Arndt was Russian and moved to Canada in 1913. By the time his parents had their first child they were living and farming in Oxbow, Saskatchewan and they would have five sons and a daughter. Young Ervin was educated in Oxbow between 1929 and 1939 and was working in farming at his father's farm when he enlisted into the RCAF on 19th June 1942 in Regina. After basic training in Canada he was awarded his Air Bomber's badge on 28th May 1943. He left Canada for service overseas on 23rd June 1943 and arrived in the UK on 1st July 1943 receiving a posting to 10 (O)AFU eleven days later. His brother was Leo Loppe who served in the RCAF as a pilot with 432 Squadron.
Charles Peake was the son of Harry Edward and Charlotte Mary (nee Lovett) Peake. He was born in Bournemouth on 26th April 1909 though the family later moved to Southampton. He married Jessie Annetta Bratcher in Southampton in 1935 and they had two sons. Charles received a commission to the rank of P/O on probation on 2nd January 1943 and rose to F/O on 2nd July 1943. He was killed flying with 635 Squadron on 31st March 1944 when Lancaster ND711 crashed in Germany. He is buried at Rheinberg War Cemetery.
Geoffrey Chowney was born in Berkshire on 11th May 1922 and was the son of Frank David and Madge Matilda (nee Montague) Chowney. On the 1939 Register he is recorded as living with his parents at Windsor, Berkshire and was working as a messenger boy for the GPO. He married in 1944 and survived the War. He contacted me in 2011 but died on 12th November 2015 in Hampshire. I thank both him and his nephew Mr Mark Bumpass for contacting me.
Jack Calder was born on 4th February 1915 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada and was the son of Rev Archibald Clement and Mrs Mary Agnes Calder (nee Harding). The family left Saskatchewan and moved to Ontario when he was a baby where he attended school. He was working as a Canadian Press reporter, reporting on the National Hockey League before enlisting into the RCAF. He enlisted for RCAF service in Toronto on 11th May 1940 and after basic training in Canada he was awarded his Air Observer's Badge on 18th January 1941. He received a commission to the rank of P/O on 25th February 1941 and was posted overseas soon after. On arrival in the UK he trained at 21 OTU before posting to 103 Squadron. On 25th October 1941 he was serving with 103 Squadron and flying in Wellington T2506 on an operational flight to bomb Frankfurt. The aircraft was damaged over the target and in a strong tailwind overshot England and Wales completely. The crew later baled out over Ireland and the aircraft crashed near Kilihill, Quilty, in County Clare, the crew of six were interned in Ireland but Calder and two others were able to escape and he appears to have arrived back in Canada in September 1942. He would later arrive back in England in July 1943 and begun refresher training with 10 (O)AFU when the accident on Green Gable occurred. He sustained serious injuries as a result of the crash of Anson DJ222 and was initially admitted to the Fusehill Military Hospital, Carlisle but was transferred to East Grinstead Hospital on 13th August where his facial injuries were treated. He would recover from his injuries and resume flying, receiving a posting to 572 Squadron by mid-1944. F/Lt John Calder was sadly killed on 21st July 1944 when flying in 571 Squadron Mosquito ML984 when the aircraft was hit by flak and he sustained injuries in both legs. He baled out but did not survive after landing in the Elbe Estuary, his body was recovered and initially buried at Brunsbuettelkoog. He was twenty nine years old and is now buried in Kiel War Cemetery. His pilot F/Lt D L Thompson RAF became a PoW.
Green Gable is the snow covered mountain to the centre-right of the above photograph, Anson DJ222 hit the very top of this mountain.
I first visited the crash site in October 2002 and I revisited the site in April 2011. The photograph above shows the largest of the bare areas containing small pieces of this aircraft.
Some of the larger pieces at this site.
Two pieces containing numbering.
Anson Dj222 was delivered as new to 12 MU on 2nd April 1942. It was taken on charge by 10 A.O.S. on 21st April 1942 and was deemed to have sustained Cat.Ac damage on 4th June 1942 during a routine inspection. A repair on site was carried out and it was returned to 10 A.O.S. on 22nd June 1942. It again was deemed to be Cat.Ac damaged during an inspection on 12th January 1943 which again saw it repaired on site and returned to 10 A.O.S. on 27th February 1943. As a result of the crash on Green Gable on 9th August 1943 Cat.E/FA damage was the damage assessment and it was struck off charge on 23rd August 1943.