Henley L3357 near Bootle.
On 8th July 1942 this No.1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit aircraft was used to tow a target around the area off the coast at Nethertown to give gunnery training to either ground based or airborne
gunners. After just over two hours flying circuits the pilot noticed that the oil pressure started to fluctuate and then drop. He informed the ground station of the problem and that he was dropping
the target to then return to base. While the aircraft reached the beach the oil pressure fell to zero. The pilot realised the engine would soon fail so climbed the aircraft as much as possible before
it did to attempt to reach Millom airfield. When at 1700 feet the engine failed and glycol fumes then filled the cockpit, the pilot was then left with little option but to glide as best he could and
as far as possible before force landing. He made a landing on a rocky part of the beach near Selker, around two miles from Bootle, at 14.00hrs. Whilst this is very much low ground it still falls on
land which is now part of the Lake District National Park.
Pilot - Sgt L V MacDonald RCAF (R/95755). Uninjured.
Winch Operator - LAC George Arthur Hall RAFVR (1184014). Injured.
George Hall was born on 21st June 1921 and was the eldest son of George and Jessie (possibly nee Jones) Hall, of Swanbach, Audlem, Cheshire. He had two younger brothers. He enlisted for RAF service in June 1940. He was killed on 21st April 1944
when 650 Squadron Martinet HN962 crashed near Haile, West Cumbria. He was twenty two years old and is buried Audlem Cemetery, Cheshire.
Was the pilot Leonard Victor MacDonald, born Richmond, Canada on 15th April 1907 ?