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 .
