Miles Master DL961 No 5 glider school, RAF Shobdon, West Smethwick park, 31st, july, 1944

 A local one for me , a trip over to Smethwick west park near Birmingham to find a small memorial to the crew of Miles Master DL961 No 5 glider school RAF Shobdon which crashed on the 31st of July 1944 with the loss of both crew the plane was seen to be low flying and during one pass reared up over some trees sadly it stalled and dived into the old Tennis courts and burned out , the inquiry put the crash down to 'unofficial aerobatics ' but locals have for years felt the crew sacrificed their lives to save hitting any of the nearby houses or people in the park the pilots presence in the area is doubly tragic in that from the crash site only a few tens of yards is the pilots family home where on this day his mother saw the crash from her kitchen window later his father visited the wreckage only then finding out the pilot was their son.

Near the crash site an unmarked stone was erected near a memorial bench but sadly the bench has now long gone but the stone now forms part of a very fitting new memorial which lies in the park grounds
Crew
Pilot F/Sgt A C Cox
F/Sgt C Preston

Wellington X3348 , 427 Sqn RAF Croft , Blackden edge on January 26th,1943

 From the Edale trip this is the site of the crash of Wellington X3348 from 427 Sqn RAF Croft which crashed on Blackden edge on January 26th , 1943 after a raid on Lorient U-boat pens on the bombers return to England the weather deteriorated , as the plane headed home dropping lower to stay below the clouds the crew didn't see the flat moor of Blackden until they were gathered outside their broken plane luckily all 6 crew survived the accident

On the moor a few small parts remain in the shallow gully also a couple of very small bits of glazing are still present nearby but the bomber was intact and did not suffer any fire so not surprised so little was left by the recovery crew
Flt C,A.Taylor
Sgt L.G.Southwood
P/o D.Mortimer
P/o G.A.Martin
Sgt W.Lumsden
Sgt A.D.Deane

B17-G 43-37667,Meltham Moor April 6th 1945 RAF Rattlesden , Suffolk

 Just back from a very interesting trip up north to find B17-G 43-37667 which crashed on Meltham Moor April 6th 1945 the bomber flying an engine test from RAF Rattlesden , Suffolk should have just been on a local flight but one of the crew said about flying up to Manchester and back but with no flight plan or route and weather knowledge a very poor call on this day, the bomber arrived over Meltham in poor weather and failing light desperately trying to get a fix the pilot left his seat to use the glazed nose to get a better view leaving his co pilot in control, the Navigator using GEE realizing at the last moment the closeness of the ground called for a climb the co-pilot pulled up , striking the moors at a shallow angle the bomber tore up the moor and burnt out, but by miracle all the crew of 5 survived the crash though sadly 2 crew had life changing injuries and the pilot passed away in 1961 due to injury inflicted in the crash.

 At the site today both massive main undercarriage forgings remain with a collection of skinning and armour plate near by an area of burnt remains and small parts litter the gully among the rocks.
looking at other pictures from past years nature has really put in a effort to repair the moor just wish those who have been digging up here recently could have back filled the holes

Crew=
2nd Lt R.Parks [co-pilot]
2nd Lt W.Vukelic [Navigator]
Sgt R.Schnug
Sgt R.Woodbeck
2nd Lt W.Johnson [passed away 1961 ]