Hampden L4136 near Sunk Island.
On Thursday, 20th April 1939 this 144 Squadron aircraft took off from Hemswell at 11.10hrs with the pilot detailed to fly a solo practice flight, once comnplete this flight would give him the ten hours flying time in the hampden and allow him to then carry passengers. Around ten minutes after taking off the aircraft was seen flying on the north side of The Humber and heading roughly in the Sunk Island area at around 3,000 feet. Something was seen to fall off the aircraft then at or soon after the aircraft went into a steep dive. The pilot managed to pull out of this dive at low height and level out but then turned to the right, which continued into another dive from which he was not able to regain control before it dived into a dyke near South Farm. The pilot was sadly killed. The item that was seen to fall from the aircraft was located around two miles from the main crash site and was found to be one of the bomb doors. The wreckage was given a detailed examination. It was found that the starboard side of the tail plane had been damaged prior to it crashing and that an impression of the detached bomb door was found on it. This was not stated to have been a factor in the pilot losing control though. It was felt likely that the pilot had known that something had come away from the aircraft and that he was attempting to force land but stalled whilst making the turn to line up for a landing. He was then too low to to regain control.
The bomb door came adrift because the rivits that held it in place had either not been heat treated when it was assembled or had received incorrect heat treatment making them sicty percent weaker than correct ones.
Hampden L4136 was allotted to 144 Squadron on 3rd March 1939 and taken on charge by them on 30th March 1939. It was destroyed in the crash on 20th April 1939.
Pilot - P/O Charles Edward Jones RAF (S.No.?), aged 26. Canadian. Buried St.Chad Churchyard, Harpswell, Lincolnshire.
Charles Jones was from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He was granted a short service commission in the RAF as Acting P/O on probation on 5th September 1937 and was later graded as P/O on 12th July 1938. I thank Mr Roy Bell for kindly sending me a photograph of his grave.
