At 11.35hrs on 1st September 1943 the crew of this No.18 Operational Training Unit aircraft took off from their Finningley base to undertake a navigation exercise, the route to be taken was to have used the turning points of Darlington, Taunton, Newbury and return to base. Bad weather was forecast with a freezing level at 11,000ft and the crew would have been aware of this prior to taking off. On arrival over Darlington at 10,000ft they set course for Taunton and climbed to 13,000ft but the pilot reported the aircraft's pitot head was icing up so he descended back to 10,000ft and instructed the bomb aimer to look through the astro-hatch to check the wings had not got ice on them. By now the aircraft was between Darlington and Stockton. The bomb aimer reported that icing was not to be seen on the wings but he noticed that fabric on the starboard wing was peeling off. Shortly afterwards the aircraft became very hard to control with the effected wing dropping. The bomb aimer had to assist the pilot with the controls and after a short time control was regained briefly but soon it became difficult to control again with starboard wing being heavy again. The order to abandon the aircraft was given and all but the pilot and the rear gunner complied. The aircraft then went into a steep spiral dive and crashed onto high ground at 12.55hrs. The aircraft had begun to break up before it hit the ground and wreckage was found over a 1200 yard trail. The cause was never fully established but there was a suggestion that the fabric could have been damaged and begun to peel off as a result of it being stored outside at Hawarden for ten months at 48 M.U. before being issued to 18 O.T.U.. The pilot and rear gunner are believed to have been in the aircraft when it crashed and were killed, the navigator is believed to have sustained injuries on landing by parachute.
Pilot - Sgt Victor Henry Wigmore RAFVR (1393205), aged 21. Buried Highgate Cemetery, London.
Rear Gunner - Sgt Harold Dean RAFVR (1579863), aged 20. Of Burton on Trent. Buried Burton on Trent Cemetery.
Navigator - Sgt Albert Andrew Rees RAFVR (1391394). Slightly injured.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Callaway.
Bomb Aimer - Sgt Edgar Farrer RAFVR (1562923).
Victor Wigmore was born in Islington, London in September 1922 and was the son of Ernest Arthur and Victoria (nee Snodgrass) Wigmore. His father was a jeweller.
Edgar Farrer was back in the air soon after this accident but on 3rd October 1943 he was flying in Wellington BK242 on another training flight when the aircraft crashed after overshooting a landing at Finningley. Sadly all five men in the aircraft were killed. Sgt Farrer is buried at Uphall Cemetery, West Lothian.
I have not located the crash site as it falls within a military training area but the aircraft is thought to have crashed in the area shown towards the centre of this photograph. This is as close as the general public can get to the crash site. Wreckage was probably well be spread out as the aircraft broke up in the air.
Wellington BK445 was built by Vickers Armstrong and was received by 48 M.U. on 22nd October 1942. It was placed in MU store until being taken on charge by 18 O.T.U. on 10th August 1943 at Finningley. While at 48 M.U. it was left parked outside. As a result of the crash on 1st September 1943 Cat.E damage was the damage assessment which saw it written off. It was then struck off charge on 8th September 1943 having clocked up a total of 64 hours total flying time.