Airspeed Oxford Crash WWII on Shining Tor in the Peak District
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- Oxford Mk.I LX745 / B of No.11 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit, RAF crashed on Shining Tor on 12th March 1944 while on a navigation exercise from Calveley
Crew
Charles Stuart Grant Wood Flying Officer Pilot (Inst) Killed
Gerald Campbell Liggett Flying Officer RCAF Pilot (u/t) Killed
Joseph George Hall Flight Sergeant Wireless Operator Killed
The aircraft was being used for a night cross country exercise from RAF Calveley near Nantwich. The briefed route was to have been Calveley - Wrexham - Lichfield - Calveley at a height of 2,300ft. They got airborne at 22:22hrs and headed on the initial short leg from just west of Nantwich to Wrexham, at this time the wind speed was increasing. The wireless operator obtained a QDR (bearing from the airfield) bearing from Calveley while in the Wrexham area at 22:34 and was heard by another aircraft at 23:15 trying to contact Calveley from the Lichfield area to obtain a QDM. These calls although heard by other aircraft were not received by the ground station and so went unanswered. Nothing further was heard of the crew or aircraft after this point.
The bulk of the wreckage is in a hollow near where it came to rest, the largest remaining items being aluminium alloy panels and a broken wheel.
It was five days later that the badly broken up wreck was discovered on the northern end of Shining Tor along with the bodies of the three crewmen who had all been killed instantly. The aircraft had been flying in a southerly direction and in a gentle turn to port when it struck the ground with its port wing before flying through wall which runs along the Cheshire / Derbyshire boundary. The aircraft then began to disintegrate and was scattered across the moor to around where parts still remain today. The wireless operators log was recovered from the wrecked aircraft and he had noted making calls with no times, but they were estimated to stop around 23:30 by using the log of the other aircraft which had heard calls as a guide.
The Court of Inquiry in the accident, held in the weeks after the crash, concluded that the position of the aircraft had been miscalculated while flying in zero visibility with fluctuating wind speeds, with a hour before taking off the wind being about 35 mph, decreasing to 15 mph at take off to around 50 mph at the time of the crash. It was thought that the drift caused by the weather was not compensated for as the gain in wind strength was unknown to the pilots. The crash occurred roughly at the time the aircraft would have been expected back at Calveley and so it was thought that the pilots had descended through the clouds on ETA over base. The failure to hear or answer any radio calls was put down the the ground station working with another aircraft at the time when these calls were made.
In addition to the findings of the Court it was noted that the Darky radio navigation aid was not used. It was recommended that crews should maintain regular contact with base with bearings being requested at regular intervals.
The three crew were all buried in Chester’s Blacon Cemetery.
Sgt Hall is recorded as a navigator on his grave but in all the available documents relating to his service and crash he is recorded as a wireless operator.
Watch the link in the video at the end to see more of the hike where I visit 4 crash sites in one hike
Another great video Stu. Thank you for keeping their memory alive.
Glad you enjoyed it mate
What a horrific tale, the courage needed to fly in an area where the terrain is so hilly when you have a very imprecise way of calculating your position is beyond me. To survive the crash but then die waiting for rescue is truly tragic. Thanks for making this video Stu, another great one! Keep em coming, look forward to the camping ones!
Cheers mate, looking forward to getting out under canvas lol, doing a trial run next week to make sure I'm on it with putting the tent up. It's been a while 🤣🤣
So interesting Stu. Thanks for taking time to do the research to be able to give us all the info.
All the best
Dave
Cheers Dave, thanks for watching as always
great video Stuart its crazy how many wreckage's are up in the peaks tbh. its always interesting to find out about how they got there and the history behind it all 🙂
Totally agree, it's always fascinated me ever since I stumbled across one in my youth on Kinder scout
Really good video.
I've been to a few in Wales too. Filmed 3 crash sites.
I'm hoping to go to some in England this year.
Yesterday I was on the Malvern Hills. 3 Days in the Lake district for me soon. Just liked and subscribed. I'll catch up on a few more. You have plenty I can see.😁👍
Nice one thanks for subscribing. I'm hoping to get further afield too as there's some great sites in Wales. I've subscribed to your channel too
@thepeakdistrictviking
Thank you so much😁
I will catch up on your places and hope to go.
I know loads of places this way.
I love England but haven't explored much of it yet. I watch and learn where to go from your vids.
I want to go to so many places. It's time and money😁
I was watching your short of you picking up litter. Good on you.
Some people are idiots and don't care.
Looking forward to your next one.👍
A haunting experience I suspect … to come across such wreckage
It is if the cloud is down. I find it fascinating yet tinged with sadness at the same time
Another tragic loss of life.