The crew of this Anson were undertaking a night cross-country training flight on 9th August 1943, because of unforecast strong winds the aircraft drifted over the Lake District while flying a leg of the flight between Brampton and Douglas. The aircraft crashed close to the summit of Scafell while flying in cloud. The wreckage was not found until 11th August 1943. Sadly all on board were killed as a result of this accident.
Pilot - F/Sgt Stanislaw Kowalczyk PAF (780579), aged 23. Buried Dumfries Roman Catholic Cemetery, Dumfriesshire.
Navigator - Sgt John Taylor Chadwick RAFVR (1434605), aged 21. Buried Blacon Cemetery, Chester.
Bomb Aimer - Sgt Thomas William Pickering RCAF (R/164677), aged 19. Buried Blacon Cemetery, Chester.
Navigator - Sgt Robert Stanley Deason RAFVR (1390632), aged 20. Cremated South London Crematorium, Mitcham, London.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Thomas Scorer Wheatley Lawson RAFVR (1048296), aged 21. Buried Sacriston, Co.Durham.
Stanislaw Kowalczyk and his grave in Dumfries Cemetery. His photograph was found on "niebieskaeskadra.pl".
This Anson crashed close to the summit of Scafell, towards the centre/right of the photograph shown above and wreckage was then scattered for many hundreds of metres down the mountainside, as shown in the photograph below.
Wreckage close to the area of impact. I visited the crash site in May 2007 some years after locating wreckage much lower down the mountain. The aircraft crashed within feet of a main path up to the summit of Scafell and wreckage is easily visible from this path.
Another photograph showing the same area of impact.
I initially located some wreckage from this aircraft in May 2003 but well below the point of the crash and have not returned to this lower wreckage with a digital camera.
A plate from part of the camera equipment the aircraft must have been carrying. The Air Ministry part number "14a/730" relates to a Williamson camera film magazine.
A fine example of the yellow colour scheme that was painted to many of the training aircraft based in the UK during the Second World War.
An example of an Avro "R3" inspection stamp.
A piston from one of the engines.
Anson DJ275 was delivered as new to 10 A.O.S. on 13th April 1942. During an inspection on 12th November 1942 it was deemed in need of a repair on site, once complete the aircraft was returned to 10 A.O.S. on 28th November 1942. As a result of the crash on 9th August 1943 on Scafell Cat.E2/FA damage was the damage assessment that saw it struck off charge on 27th August 1943.