Westland Lysander V9403

Westland Lysander V9403

On the 19 August 1941 this aircraft crashed into Featherbed Moss near Chew Reservoir in the Peak District.

The aircraft was intending to fly to Wales to provide gunnery and searchlight practise for the recruits at Gunnery and Torpedo training base on the Great Orme , click the link to see the base  news.bbc.co.uk/local/northwestwales/hi/people_and_places/... .

Flying out of Ringway (now better known Manchester Airport) it flew in completely the wrong direction due to the Gyro compass being either faulty or set wrongly. Cloud was down below 2000ft, the pilot realising something was amiss but believing himself to be over the low plains of Cheshire reduced heigtht in an attempt to get beneath the cloud . He never made it .
The Lysander had a crew of two . Both men survived the crash itself but were not found for a couple of days . They were trapped in the mangled wreckage , which ultimately proved fatal for the Wireless Operator who died in hospital 5 days later probaly due to the build up of toxins in his trapped body .
The crew were 

P/O Fredrick W. Hoddinott Pilot (survived)

LAC Allen M. Chadwick Wireless Op. Died in hospital on the 24th August 1941.

CWGC has Leading Aircraftman Chadwick , who was 22 years old , buried at Bebington in the Wirrel . 

The aircraft itself was built as a Mk.IIIA by Westland in Yeovil.

The crash site is  on a  featureless moor , very little remains and it can be difficult to find with a map and compass . I managed but probaly one for a GPS in truth .  

That said it makes part of a good wrecksite round along with a nimber of other aircraft in the area .