Avro Lancaster, MK 1 W4326 SR-C 'Charlie' , 101 Sqn RAF , Dolwen, Welshpool 16/11/42

Another Welsh site today this one near the quiet town of Welshpool and is the final resting place of the remains of Avro Lancaster, MK 1 W4326 SR-C 'Charlie' , 101 Sqn RAF flying on a night cross country bombing and photo training flight from RAF Holme-on-Spalding-Moor, East Yorkshire over mid wales on the 16/11/42 .

The plane arriving over Dolwen would have been practicing night photography tragically during this operation one of the photo flash units ignited in the rear fuselage the resulting fire impossible to control quickly burned through the tail controls causing the bomber to plunge into high boggy ground far above Dolwen, sadly the six of the Severn crew were lost with the plane one of the crew Sgt J R Gould did get out of the aircraft but was also lost, reported as missing at the time he was found 10 days later but due to crossed wires he was still recorded on the Runneymede memorial for missing aircrew.

On the moor after a long walk through very wet ground and nearly impenetrable woods I re found the site I last visited years ago, a bit more disturbed but mostly as I remember 2 large piles of smashed remains still lie on the edge of the crater a couple of areas of small bits containing some electrical parts a couple of bits of parachute cord and some blue leather lie on the other side but much is still buried here you can hear metal under the grass as you move about the JCB that was used in the recovery of parts years ago and shown in Edward Doylerush's 'No landing place 2 ' used to be on the track on the climb up but has now gone one engine resides in the Landwrog air museum

Crew

W.O.2 J W Spinney RCAF

Sgt S R Clarke RAF

Sgt H W A Collet RNZAF

Sgt C L Colman RAF

Sgt J R Gould RCAF

Sgt A E Beach RAF

Sgt D A J Holloway RAF

Mosquito PR Mk 9 LR412 , RAF Benson ,Oxfordshire 9th February 1944, Aran Fawddy Bala North Wales

 A long but worth while trip to the Welsh mountain of Aran Fawddy near Bala , to find the site of the loss of Mosquito PR Mk 9 LR412 the plane on a test flight from RAF Benson ,Oxfordshire on the 9th February 1944 for unknown reasons the plane crossed the coast and entered the mountains below the recommended altitude flying in good viability the plane struck Aran Fawddy with the sad loss of both crew the plane crashed at 2400ft with one engine stopped which has generated mystery given the planes excellent single engine performance and the crews very high experience level especially the Navigator F/lt Paul Riches DFC Maybe the faulty engine distracted the crew and they lost situational awareness ? the plane was not found until 5 days later .

 At the site there remains a scrape containing some small parts and in the rocks nearby there is a collection of undercarriage and skin remains buried in the rocks by the recovery crew ,further down the slop about 100ft away is another burial of parts and in a hollow by a rock a good 300 ft lower was a collection of skinning and tanks remains hidden in a sink hole walking back across the slope way off the path i found one more part with a message written one it giving the planes details dated 1990

F/O Marek Slonski-Ostoja P.A.F
F/Lt Paul Riches DFC R.A.F.V.R

Wellington BJ664, 13th September 1943 12 OTU RAF Chipping Warden ,Burrow Iron age hill fort near Cravern arms

 A nice walk out to Burrow Iron age hill fort near Cravern arms , Shropshire a massive structure but also the final destination of Wellington BJ664 flying from 12 OTU RAF Chipping Warden, Oxfordshire on the 13th September 1943 on a map reading exercise and trip to a local bombing range after arriving at Conway North wales the crew flew south into ever poorer weather until over the Church Stretton area a large thunderstorm was encountered after a large flash the plane was seen to be in trouble loosing height it crashed into trees inside the fort walls and disintegrated with the loss of all crew

 Today nothing but broken tree stumps give any hint of what happened in this tranquil place and as a scheduled monument I didn't really want to be digging around

Crew =
F/L J E Fairchild
Sgt C S Walters
F/L R T Bowen
Sgt E Gates
Sgt E A Opie RCAF
F/S B Green
Sgt E Davis
Sgt T Johnson
On the way home passed Eudon Mills near Bridgenorth where 6 days before this sad loss Wellington BJ621 from 12 OTU crashed with the loss of all crew