Lysander V9312 at Clifton airfield.
Historian Graham Sharpe has located basic information to state that On 26th April 1942 this 4 Squadron Lysander was slightly damaged in a ground accident at Clifton airfield. The damage was listed as Cat.B which is more that just very minor damage. Two days later the squadron ORB states it was flown to Elstree to undergo a conversion so the repair must have been made quickly to make it airworthy again rather than a total fix.
Pilot - Name unknown.
Lysander V9312 has a long history with a happy ending for it, it is still in existance and flying at the time of creating this webpage. It was built to contract B.54504/40 by The Westland Aircraft Co. Ltd. at Yeovil and was awaiting collection by the end of December 1940. On 4th January 1941 it was flown to 33 MU at Lyneham. The RAF history given in Air Britain's service history books is a rather vague and needs all the squadron ORBs it served with checking for exact dates. It was first taken on charge by 225 Squadron at Tilshead before being transferring to 613 Squadron at Doncaster (both on unknown dates). 613 Squadron ceased operating this Lysander type on 11th April 1942 but by this date it had already been transferred to 4 Squadron at Clifton. It was first used by them on 15th March 1942. The flight 4 Squadron used it prior to any mishap was on 24th April 1942 and no damage was reported in the 4 Squadron ORB. The ORB does not list it being flown on 26th April 1942 but that does not mean it wasn't damaged prior to any flight being made so I have created a webpage for it. On 28th April 1942 this aircraft was one of four that were flown to Elstree airfield to be modified so I assume that while the Cat.B damage was not totally repaired on site at Clifton it was patched up enough to make it airworthy and flown south. At Elstree it was taken into the Fairfield Aviation Ltd. works at Elstree airfield and converted to a Mk.III Target Towing status aircraft as well as repaired. On 1st October 1942 it was transferred to the RCAF and on 18th October 1942 it began the transit to Canada from Liverpool Docks. On arrival in Canada it was taken on charge by No.2 Bombing and Gunnery School at Mossbank, Saskatchewan. On 30th December 1944 it is recorded as being flown into MU storage pending disposal. On 1st October 1946 it was struck off RCAF charge and sold to a farmer at Meyvoune, Saskatchewan where it remained unregistered in outside storage. Here it appears to have sat until 1972 when it was purchased by Whereatt's Warbirds and transported to Assiniboia, Saskatchewan and remained there until 12th August 1991 when it was purchased by Kermit Weeks and transported to Polk City, Florida, USA. Here it was registered as N3093K on the US register. On 9th December 2003 the US registration was cancelled. Between 1991 and 2003 it appears to have been returned to the UK. On 10th December 2003 it was registered as G-CCOM by Propshop Ltd. at Duxford. The aircraft was totally restored to flight by ARCo Ltd. at Duxford and it's first post restoration flight made on 28th August 2018.