Lysander V9485 at Clifton airfield.
On 24th May 1942 this Lysander stalled following a heavy landing at Clifton airfield and the undercarriage gave way. The aircraft sustained damage and was
taken away by road for probable repair.
Pilot - P/O John Edward Anthony Hartill RAFVR (119556).
John Hartill was born in Brierley Hill in 1921, he was the eldest son of the Rev & Mrs J. Hartill. He was educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School and upon leaving
there he worked for Boulton and Paul before enlisting into the RAFVR in 1941. While training in the USA his aircraft collided with another and he was forced to bale out
and broke his leg on landing. He received his commission to P/O on probation (emergency) on 24th January 1942 and rose to F/O on probation (war subs) on 1st October 1942
and then to F/Lt (war subs) on 14th January 1944. Days after Lysander V9485 crashed at Clifton he was the pilot of a Mustang that crashed at Clifton on 5th June 1942.
He was sadly killed on 23rd May 1945 flying a 64 Squadron aircraft and is buried in Wolverhampton. He was the pilot of
Mustang FB135 practicing attacking another Mustang in a dog-fight when the two aircraft collided. His aircraft crashed near Cantley, Norfolk and he was unable to get clear
and lost his life. The pilot of the other aircraft was able to bale out and landed safely. F/Lt Hartill was twenty three years old.
Lysander V9485 was built to contract B54504/39 by Westland's at Yeovil and was delivered to RAF MU storage in 1941 and later issued to 4 Squadron at Clifton. It
suffered it's Cat.B/FA mishap at Clifton on 24th May 1942 and was taken away and repaired in works at Westland's repair depot at Yeovil. Records state that it was
issued to 1333 Flight at some stage after completion of repairs but it is doubtful this ever happened. 1333 Flight's correct title was 1333 (Transport Support)
Conversion Unit and it was not formed until 12th March 1945 but V9485, according to it's records, was struck off charge on 27th July 1944. It is possible that the
aircraft was allocated to 107 (Transport) OTU which was formed at Leicester East on 3rd May 1944. 1333 (TS)CU was formed from 107 (T)OTU (but only speculation).