Wellington "LQ-K" (probably W5492) at Pocklington airfield.
On the night of 22nd / 23rd August 1941 405 Squadron sent up six aircraft to bomb Mannheim and to supply two aircraft to bomb Le Havre. Prior
to the operational flights that evening some of the crews were instructed to undertake airtests; one dual flying exercise and one local flying
exercise. In total eleven aircraft were used for these exercises. At 15.20hrs this aircraft overshot on landing at Pocklington airfield after
the wind had turned 180 degrees and the aircraft had landed with the wind behind it. This was one of two aircraft to do exactly the same thing
within minutes on this date. On 18th September 1941 Wellington W5492 carried the squadron code LQ-K and it was probably the same aircraft as
involved in this mishap recorded above. Some or all of the crew on the later incident may have been involved in this earlier incident.
Pilot - Sgt Ronald George Chandos RAFVR (950324).
Crew - Names unknown.
Wellington W5492 was built to contract B.71441/40 by Vickers Armstrong's Ltd. at Weybridge and was awaiting collection in March 1941. It was received by 33 MU on 23rd April 1941 and was taken on charge by the recently formed 405 Squadron at Driffield on 14th June 1941. It moved with the squadron to Pocklington on 20th June 1941.
As a result of a probable minor landing accident at Pocklington on 22nd August 1941 Cat.A/FA damage would have been the damage assessment which only required a repair on site but the aircraft's AM Form 78 does not list the incident. Once repaired it was returned to 405 Squadron. The aircraft was destroyed on 18th September 1941 when it crashed two miles from Pocklington with Cat.E2/FA damage recorded. It was struck off charge two days later.
Ronald Chandos was killed on 18th September 1941 when Wellington W5492 crashed near Pocklington, sadly all eight on board the aircraft were killed. He was twenty five years old and is buried in Eastwood Cemetery, Glasgow. This incident is recorded on it's own webpage in more detail.