Wellington Mk1 L4230 15 OTU RAF Harwell 12th December 1940 Great Rhos New Radnor

A second trip out with Tricia Quinlan to Great Rhos near New Radnor to locate the crash site of Wellington Mk1 L4230
Wellington L4230 of 15 O.T.U took off from R.A.F. Harwell on the 12th of December 1940 on a routine training flight to Aberaeron on the Welsh coast, flying into the cold air over the mountains the bomber began to pick up ice this got so bad the pilot, Sgt Earl, struggled to maintain height then to make matters much worse the starboard engine sputtered and stopped.

With great skill the young pilot pulled off a wheels up landing on the flat plateau on Great Rhos, the bomber slid to a stop and all 6 crew stepped out unharmed. After finding their way down to New Radnor the crew partook of local hospitality in the village pub.

On the mountain today little can be found at the site, a shallow flat area in the heather is a hint, in the longer bits of grass some remains came to light not much but enough to identify the site. On my last unsuccessful visit to this site with Gary Watts we did find two large parts over 500 ft away on the far side of the mountain.

Crew=
Sgt Earl
Sqn Ldr G.Learner
Sgt J.Doull
Sgt T.Morley
Sgt Martin
Sgt Mullin


This site is one of the many in the great book 'Final Descent ' by the late Terence R Hill sadly I never got to meet him in person but his work is fantastic and worth finding a copy.