Avro Lancaster NE132
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| Wreckage lays amongst the scree in the foreground |
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| Reduction gear still with stubs of the props attached |
On the 6th February 1945 flying out of RAF North Luffenham , Lancaster NE132 crashed into the flank of Rhinog Fawr in North Wales whilst on a cross country training flight .
The aircraft apparently entered a Cumulo-Nimbus cloud, ice formed upon the fuselage and wings causing a catastrophic airframe failure . The aircraft broke up in flight plummeting down into the mountainside .
Fatigue may have played its part for the aircraft had completed many missions over enemy territory before being 'retired' into No. 1653 HCU for use in training .
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| Engine parts |
The whole crew of 7 men died.
F/O David H.R.Evans Pilot
F/O Maxwell W. Moon Navigator
Sgt. Charles W. Souden Bomb Aimer
Sgt. George E.W. Hodge Flt. Engineer
Sgt. Arthur D. Gash Air Gunner
Sgt. Harold Neilsen Air Gunner
Sgt. Alfred E. Oliff Air Gunner/Wireless Op
F/O;s Evans and Moon were Australian and members of the RAAF.
Sgt Neilsen was from Chile .
It is known that two of the men managed to bale out but were too low for their parachutes to open properly .
The bodies of two other crewmen, F/O Evans and Sgt Gash have never been found . This makes the main impact point a war grave . Their names are on the Runnymede Memorial . F/O Evans on panel 283 and Sgt Gash on panel 272 .
Whilst of little comfort to the families of the men it can at least be said that they are in one of the most serenely beautiful areas of Snowdonia .
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| View from the crash site |
This is a picture I took of a card left at the memorial . A thoughtful addition by someone .
The R3 means that it was a Manchester built aircraft part . the others are part numbers .
there is some strong evidence to suggest that the part in question was a part of the regular crew entrance to the aircraft towards the rear of the fuselage . more than that , it has as part of the chunk the ridged threshold with a section of exterior panel and interior strengthening ribs and plates . Its quite nice to be able to put a name to a part of the shattered fragments .
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| Bullet remains from the burnt out aircraft , no dates were discernible |
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| I suspect this was something to do with the engine |
This is brilliant Paul. I haven't even looked at yesterday's photos, let alone thought about using them. It is a fascinating site and one which was well suited to light which wasn't ideal for landscape photography. Mind, there was some cloud and shadow. A great set of photos even without your 10-20mm. Terrific close-ups. The one at the bottom is my favourite, I'd have gone with that as the lead shot, love the colours. Ok, enough grovelling about the photos, will go back and read it now.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ian , I would have used it had we wrote the aircraft number on it . A good thing is that it keeps the shots interesting all through the article . Hope you dont mind i cropped your shot a little :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Paul it may be of interest to you but because of a typing error Sgt Cliff was in fact Sgt Oliff from Upminster in Essex My Wife whose uncle it was and I have visited the site and the farmer who kindly installed the plaque. Have copies of the station log from LLanbedr who sent search parties out to find it and also records of the accident report
ReplyDeleteThank you , Its my mistake , I thought Oliff was the typing error . I shall alter .
DeleteAn excellent report. Do you happen to know the squadron code of this aircraft or how I could find it please? I live a few miles from this site and as a model builder I would like to make a Lancaster in this aircraft's markings as a small personal tribute to the crew.
ReplyDeleteThe book, "Avro Lancaster - The Definitive Record" by Harry Holmes states that NE132 was designated GT-H when serving with 156 Squadron, but I can find no mention of her following transfer to 1653HCU, which used A3 and H4 as squadron prefixes. Incidentally both this book and "The Avro Lancaster" by Francis K. Mason erroneously state that NE132 ditched into the sea off Llanbedr, which shows how tricky this sort of research can be.
Best regards,
Paul
This is my uncle Arthur's final resting place. My husband and I walked to the site a few year's ago, and intend to go up there again when we can. My uncle Arthur was my dad's twin brother.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing.
Thank you so much. This is fantastic. My grandmother´s brother is Harold Nielsen (indicated here by error as Neilsen). In 1943, the Nielsen family was living in Punta Arenas, Chile and Harold joined the RAF as a volunteer. In 1969, I visited his grave in Liverpool (I was a small boy). I would love to visit again with my children in the future. Perhaps someone knows how I could find the cemetery again. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteMy uncle Arthur is the 3rd on the right of the photograph. He was one of the crew who was never found. We're hoping to climb up there again some time.
ReplyDeleteThis is also my Uncle s final resting place . I am the brother of Cheryl Ellams. I have visited the mountain but didnt get all the way up. I have the crash investigation record for NE132. My Uncles body was never found. May he rest in peace
ReplyDeleteThe picture was left by my brother in law Lee.
ReplyDeleteArthur Gash is third from the right.Walter Maxwell Moon was probably taking the picture. I have a photo of him and he doesn't seem to be in the picture
ReplyDelete