During the morning of 26th September 1943 the crew of this 1658 Heavy Conversion Unit aircraft were undertaking a training exercise and had taken off from their base at Riccall airfield at 04.45hrs. Part of the exercise was to practice flying on three engines. On their return to the Riccall airfield circuit with one of the engines shut down the aircraft made an overshoot. Owing to the age and worn-out nature of the aircraft it failed to climb away, it lost height and crashed on the north-western side of the airfield at 10.45hrs towards the northern side of Riccall village. While all those on board escaped injury the aircraft was badly damaged. I thank Brian Lunn for kindly supplying the crew list shown below which I have then expanded.
Pilot (Instructor) - P/O Wilfred Eric Elder DFM RNZAF (NZ.416101).
Pilot (Trainee) - F/O Thomas Anthony Wickham Jones RAFVR (172569).
Flight Engineer - Sgt Donald Cameron Stewart Davie RAFVR (1561886).
Navigator - P/O John Fraser Strange RCAF (J/21761).
Bomb Aimer - P/O D A McIntyre RCAF (J/23467).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt R S Atkinson RAFVR (1333272).
Air Gunner - Sgt H Dale RAFVR (1502962).
Air Gunner - Sgt G H Galloway RAFVR (1822507).
Flight Engineer - Sgt R Stewart RAFVR (1589914).
Halifax BB190 was built to contract B.124357/40 by the London Passenger Transport Board Ltd. at Leavesden and was awaiting collection in January 1942. It was one of the first to come out of the factory there but appears to have been held by Handley Page after completion because of production and quality issues that the LPTB had with their early aircraft. The aircraft's AM Form 78 states that it was received by 8 MU at Little Rissington on 14th March 1942. On 18th October 1942 it was taken on charge by 1658 Heavy Conversion Unit at Riccall. There is a mention of the aircraft in their ORB being collected from Riccall by an instuctor from 1658 H.C.U. on 9th December 1942 and flown to Melbourne to join D-Flight that was stationed there. As a result of minor damage sustained at Riccall on 6th March 1943 Cat.Ac/FA damage resulted and it was repaired on site. It returned to 1658 HCU use on 10th May 1943. On 16th July 1943 it was deemed in need of a repair on site during an inspection. This was carried out on site by a team from Handley Page and it was returned to 1658 HCU on 1st August 1943. On 19th August 1943 the aircraft suffered the tail wheel collapsing on landing at Riccall. A Cat.Ac/FA damage assessment resulted and it was returned to 1658 HCU on 15th September 1943 after a repair on site. It then crashed on landing again on 26th September 1943 but this time the damage was more severe and the aircraft was not repaired. Cat.E/FA damage was the assessment and it was written off.
On 21st June 1943 Wilfred Elder was flying Halifax DK188 on Ops to Krefeld when the aircraft suffered from one of the engines failing outbound. He was later awarded the DFM for his actions on this night. The citation tells the story, Gazetted on 16th July 1943, the citation reads.."This airman was the captain and pilot of an aircraft which was detailed to attack Krefeld one night in June 1943. On the outward flight, one engine of the bomber became unserviceable but, despite this, Flight Sergeant Elder continued to the target and pressed home a determined attack, afterwards flying the aircraft back to base. This airman displayed great skill and tenacity throughout, setting an inspiring example." On 27th / 28th July 1943 he was flying Halifax DK188 on an operational flight to bomb Hamburg when the aircraft was damaged by night-fighters. An air gunner died after an attack by the enemy aircraft after being struck by cannon fire in the mid upper turret. The crew managed to fly back to England and they force landed at Shipdham, Norfolk. Wilfred Elder was awarded the DFC for further service with 76 Squadron, Gazetted on 16th November 1943.
Thomas Anthony "Tony" Wickham-Jones was born in 1922. As a boy he became a theatre actor and later acted in films in the late 1930s but this career was cut short by the war. He received a commission to the rank of P/O on probation on 29th February 1944 and rose to F/O six months later. After completing his conversion at 1658 HCU he went on to fly a tour with 77 Squadron and was awarded the DFC, Gazetted on 17th November 1944 and also the American DFC in 1945. He was killed in a civilian flying accident at Heathrow on 2nd March 1948 when Sabena Airlines DC-3 OO-AWH crashed in thick fog, the crash killed twenty people. He was twenty six years old. His medal set sold at auction in 2015.
Sgt Donald Davie was killed on 18th November 1943 while serving with 76 Squadron, the twenty one year old was flying in Halifax LK957 on Ops to Mannheim when the aircraft crashed in Germany. He is buried at Durnbach War Cemetery.
John Strange was later posted to 77 Squadron and was awarded the DFC, Gazetted on 14th November 1944.
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