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Mosquito KB364
crashes on Bawdeswell's church
It was one of twelve aircraft from 608 Squadron which set
out from Bexwell, Norfolk, known then as RAF Downham Market, to
attack Gelsenkirchen in Germany on 6th November 1944. The attack was a
diversionary raid to draw German fighters away from two bigger raids elsewhere.
( 235 Lancaster bombers attacking the canal at Gravenhorst and 129 attacking
Koblenz.)
The attack commenced as
planned, five minutes ahead of the two other raids at 19.25 hours. The
Mosquitos dropped a mixture of red and green target indicators and high
explosive bombs from 25,000ft. A few searchlights and very light flak
were reported by crews over Gelsenkirchen.
Eleven of the
Mosquitoes from 608 Squadron carried out successful missions and returned
safely to Norfolk.
Cloud
and icing conditions were encountered . KB364 is thought to have become
severely iced-up during the return descent through cloud over Norfolk , and it
was considered likely at the time that the pilot lost control and was unable to
maintain height. The aircraft hit some electricity cables in the Reepham
Road and struck All Saints Church, setting it on fire. Parts of the
aircraft carried on and hit Barwick House and Chaucer House opposite, causing
considerable damage to both. Debris was spread over a wide area. The
crash took place at 20.45hrs.
The Dereham Fire
Brigade and firefighters from the American airbase at Attlebridge (Weston
Longville) attended and it took four hours to control the blaze.
Stephanie Leitch (nee Bugdale) was 8yrs old at the time,
living at Kenway cottage in the Street -
"I remember seeing one of the plane's wheels, on fire, rolling
down the street towards us. Since this was a few moments after the impact
- we had time to come out to see the source of the noise - the wheel must have
landed on the roof of Barwick House and from there rolled down onto the road.
There was,
incidentally, a fire appliance behind Chaucer House, where Mr Lloyd Lewis had a
steel workshop. Unluckily the flaming debris blocked access to it, and
they had to wait for help from the USAF at Weston Longville. The
Bawdeswell fire team consisted of Ambrose Frankland, Sam Muttock, Billy Hagen
and Arthur Currie."
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Remarkably, no civilians were injured.
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Both crew members died
in the crash.
Pilot Officer James
McLean (195130) aged 26, who was the son of William and Alison Pringle McLean of
Bents, West Lothian, Scotland, and Sergeant Mervyn Lambert Tansley (1604944)
aged 21, the son of Frederick Freeman and Alice Maud Tansley of Fulham,
London. Both crewmen were members of the RAF(VR), the volunteer reserve.
McLean is buried in
Tranent new Cemetery, East Lothian, section A, grave 409. Tansley is
buried in Fulham old Cemetery, City of London, section 1, grave 14.
This
is believed to have been the only Norfolk church to be destroyed in this way.
More details of the
aircraft.
KB364 was a Mosquito B Mk.XX (Canadian version of the British B Mk.V) and was
built by DeHaviland (Canada) at their Downsview, Toronto plant, under contract
No. BsB 2115. The aircraft was fitted with two Packard Merlin 33
engines. It was flown to Britain via Gander in Newfoundland, and arrived at
Prestwick on 20th July 1944. It was delivered to No.13 Maintenance Unit at
Henlow for modifications on 23rd July 1944.
On 13th August 1944 she was delivered to 608 Squadron (North Riding
Squadron), which reformed on 1st August 1944 at RAF Downham Market, as part of
8 Group's Light Night Striking Force. It is recorded as suffering
damage and being repaired on site between 29th August and 23rd October.
The above
information taken from the notes of Bob Collis, Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation
Museum, Flixton, Suffolk, and the eye-witness report sent in by Stephanie
Leitch of St Albans.
The Mosquito
aircraft was made largely from plywood and had two powerful Merlin engines on
the wings and a thick sheet of steel armour behind the crew to protect their
backs. It was used as a light bomber and in a reconaisance role. It also made
some flights over Norway to collect ball bearings from Sweeden. RT
More about Bawdeswell