Anson MG582 near Bootle railway station.

During the afternoon of 11th October 1945 this aircraft was being ferried between two unidentified airfields by an ATA pilot and had been in the air for just over two hours when, while flying over West Cumbria the visibility, light and weather all deteriorated. The pilot then attempted to make a forced landing at 18.10hrs in a field near Bootle railway station with the wheels down but in doing so struck a bank on the edge of his selected field and the aircraft crashed. The aircraft may have struck an embankment, possibly a railway embankment. The pilot appears to have escaped injury. The investigation into the mishap concluded that the pilot had attempted to fly too far in poor visibility and should have landed at an airfield sooner. A photograph on the internet shows this Anson to have carried the Squadron Code "AN" earlier in the war and also D-Day markings in black and white strips, with the "AN" code being issued to three units only one was in the UK during the last months of the war and therefore it may well have been on the books with the Great Dunmow (airfield) Station Flight during the last year of the war.

Pilot - F/O Charles John Graham ATA (M.460).


Charles Graham was born on 28th March 1899 at Willesden, London and was the son of Charles and Eliza Ellen (nee Puckett) Graham. Baptised at Willesden in May 1899. He served in the Merchant Navy in WW1. He trained as a pilot in the 1920s and was awarded a Royal Aero Club certificate (Cert No 7967) on 26th March 1925. When the 1939 Register was made he is listed as being single, retired Captain in the Merchant Navy and living at Paddington, London. He joined the ATA on 10th June 1941 and during his time with the organisation he was involved in five incidents. On 24th July 1942 he crashed Proctor HM284 on landing. On 15th November 1943 damaged Wellington LN861 whilst taxying. On 18th January 1945 force landed Anson NL208 after engine failure. On 19th May 1945 crashed Anson PH699 on take off. Then force landed Anson MG582 on 11th October 1945 when it got dark. He died in Watford in 1974.
The location of where this incident occurred has not yet been found. If you can assist please contact me HERE. Thank you. This is a low ground mishap but it falls within the National Park boundary.

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