Halifax LW579, 51 Sqn, RAF Snaith , Cowleaze wood, Chilterns ,Oxfordshire 30th March 1944 Nuremburg raid

From MY last trip to Oxfordshire.

Halifax LW579, MH-V, 51Sqn RAF Snaith, Yorkshire took off along with 795 other planes from all over England on a raid to Nuremburg, Germany. This night was to mark the worst night for Bomber Command in WW2, 97 planes were lost to defences and night fighters, 9 more were written off in accidents or damaged beyond repair, 6 of 51 Sqn aircraft were lost, this raid cost the lives of 545 airmen.

LW579 survived to mission over Nuremburg and made it back over England but though a clear night with a bombers moon, the strong winds which had broke up the attacking aircraft and hampered accuracy over Germany may now have pushed LW579 away from its course home by 120 miles. Flying his plane over blacked out Oxfordshire the pilot P/o James Brooks started to descend, the lost bomber may have been trying to get to RAF Benson which was nearby, but maybe not being aware of the dark mass of the Chilterns that lay between his plane and the safety of Bensons runway, sadly hitting the trees of Cowleaze Woods the Halifax broke up and sadly all 7 crew were lost.  

 

Today a marked trail leads from the sign board in the carpark winding through the trees to a large sandstone plinth marking the crash site, the stone was brought from Lincoln Cathedral and inscribed with the crews’ names. Nearby a shallow scrape marks the site of the bombers crash and a dig that was carried out to recover remains from the site, though I have no details as to when or who carried out the dig.

Looking about the memorial I did find some small remains on the surface near the path, given the high volume of passers-by I was surprised anything would be still visible. In the 30mins I was there 2 groups of walkers came up and were fascinated by the finds and story, one group told of their grandfathers service in Spitfires in WW2 and as if history has a sense of timing a Mk 9 trundled overhead.

 

 Crew of LW579 =

P/o J.  Brooks

F/s D.J.McCormack

Sgt T.S.Connell

Sgt R.Kelly

F/s D.A.Churchill

F/s G.W.West

F/s S.Glass

Winslow 7th August 1943,Wellington X3790 Mk III of 26 Operational Training Unit RAF Little Horwood

3am on the 7th August 1943 in the small town of Winslow, Oxfordshire, many slept quietly as a lone plane circled overhead, the crew struggling to line up for a second attempt to land at nearby RAF Little Horwood.

Wellington X3790 Mk III of 26 Operational Training Unit had taken off on a training bombing mission but had to turn back after the bomb sight failed to operate correctly. Flying over blacked out country the pilot tried the get down but had to go around, in the rear of the bomber Sgt Navigator Jeffrey Harrington had his work cut out watching his instrument's, next thing he remembered was waking up next to the burning remains of his plane.

The plane flying very low had impacted a tree and tore off a wing, uncontrollable, the Wellington crashed through the Chandos Arms pub, careered across High street and into the 4 Rose cottages destroying one, of the 5 crew, 4 were lost in the crash but tragically many more died on the ground.

13 civillians died in the town including Thomas Cox, landlord of the Chandos Arms, Tom Paintin of number 82 High Street also his son Donald, Stephen and Doris Mullis and their 2 children Terence and Kathleen, Israel and Annie Goldberg their daughter Lottie Hoberman and her son Victor [evacuees from Stoke Newington], also William and Nora Hawkins.

X3790s crew lost

Sgt Pilot Wilfred Davies

Sgt (Jock) McKeon

Sgt John Sowter

Sgt Clive Fietz

Sgt Navigator Jeffrey Harrington survived.

On the street today nothing shows of this sad accident but the gap in the frontages. Nearby at the British Legion hall a memorial plaque has been built into the outside wall a small reminder of an awful night in Winslow