On the afternoon of the 17th May 1945 in the quiet street of Lichfield Road, Wednesfield, Wolverhampton, locals heard and saw a Lancaster bomber in trouble. It dropped out of the cloud base the crew struggling with the failing bomber avoided nearby houses attempting a forced landing on a cricket ground. Sadly the bomber impacted into Lichfield Road with the loss of all 7 crew on board, the bomber totally disintegrated leaving a crater in the road and wreckage spread over a wide area. The RAF cleared the remains into the crater and sadly the crew were also interned with their plane, a service was held at the crash site before the road reopened.
The Lancaster a B Mk1 coded RF124 L-ES, 630 Sqn flying from RAF East Kirby was on a non-operational cross country when something went wrong with one or more of the engines, causing the plane to lose height and to attempt a forced landing. This was the last flight before 630 Sqn began to be run down after the cessation of hostilities, it was also the first bomber command loss after the end of WW2 in Europe.
At the site today there is nothing to show of the accident, but on the 17th of May 2020 a moving memorial was unveiled near the site by the Wednesfield History Society and the City of Wolverhampton Council.
Crew of RF124
F/o Bernard Hall
F/o Ronald James O'Donnell
Sgt Reginald Henry Smith
F/o Victor Francis Dobell Meade
Sgt Gordon Leonard Rabbetts
Sgt Vincent Reginald Woodburn Southworth
Sgt John Alfred Sills
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