Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley

The crew was completing a night training flight and was returning to his base in Belfast-Aldergrove when the pilot in command lost his orientation and continued to the northeast to Scotland. While running out of fuel in low visibility, the aircraft hit the slope of a mountain located in the Fathan Glinne Mountain Range, near the village of Balquhidder, by the Loch Voil. A crew member was seriously injured while five others were killed.
Crew:
Sgt John James Westoby, pilot, †
Sgt William John Barnfather, pilot, †
Sgt John Whitsed, observer, †
Sgt James Gerrard Curtis, wireless operator and air gunner, †
Sgt Jack Perfect, wireless operator and air gunner, †
Sgt W. S. Hamilton, air gunner.

The aircraft was being used for a screened bombing exercise followed by a cross country navigation exercise. The crew took off from Forres on the Moray coast, a satellite of RAF Kinloss, at 2230LT for the practice bombing portion of the exercise, which they completed and landed back at Forres at 2320LT where the instructor left the aircraft. The next part of the flight was to be the crew’s first cross country exercise without an instructor onboard, they took off again at 2335LT for the second part of their flight, which was to be Kinloss – Gigha – Douglas – Gigha – Kinloss. At 2355LT it was seen by a Royal Observer Corps post on the ground and its track was plotted at Dalwhinnie, at this point it was flying normally at about 9,000 feet to the northern side of Loch Ericht. At 0003LT while towards the south western end of Loch Ericht black smoke was seen coming from the aircraft and it made an 80° turn to starboard. Fire was observed shortly afterwards and soon this had clearly taken hold and caused serious structural damage to aircraft. The port wing broke away after which the aircraft went into an uncontrolled dive.
Crew:
Sgt Dennys Cyril Hunt, pilot,
Sgt Edwin Albert Deacon, navigator,
F/Sgt Donald James Gillies, bomb aimer,
Sgt Robert Norman Cowie, wireless operator,
Sgt Keith Pratt Gemmel, air gunner.
Source: https://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/crash_sites/scotland/armstrong-whitworth-whitley-la877-meallan-odhar/

The airplane departed RAF Honeybourne on a leaflet dropping operation over Nantes. Over the target area, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed 300 metres southwest from the church in Saint-Même-le-Tenu, some 28 km southwest of Nantes. Five crew members were killed and one became PoW.
Crew:
Sgt Leslie Frank Cook, pilot, †
Sgt Denis Leslie Williams, navigator, †
Sgt John Monteith, bomb aimer, †
Sgt William Henry Cox, air gunner, †
Sgt William Tom Seaman, air gunner, †
Sgt Jack Dawson.

The crew departed RAF Sherburn-in-Elmet around 1500LT on a local training flight. About 30 minutes later, the right engine lost power. Because the crew was unable to maintain a safe altitude, he attempted an emergency landing in an open field. Upon landing, the undercarriage collapsed and the airplane came to a halt. Both crew members escaped unhurt and the bomber was damaged beyond repair.
Crew:
F/O Tom Winnington, instructor pilot,
F/O Stanley John Rane, student pilot.

The crew was performing a local training flight at Honeybourne. After the pilot was given a red signal by the airfield controller, he initiated a circuit near the airfield when the airplane struck a hill in clouds. All five crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/Sgt Harris Gordon Hagen, pilot,
Sgt Richard Stanley Phillips, navigator,
F/Sgt Donald Herbert Kelly, bomb aimer,
Sgt Donald Alfred Marriott, wireless operator,
Sgt George Edward Ekins, air gunner.

The crew departed RAF Honeybourne on a navigation exercise. En route, the port engine failed and the pilot made an emergency landing in an open field located in Rhyl. The airplane was damaged beyond repair and the crew escaped unhurt.
Crew:
Sgt J. W. Clark, pilot,
Sgt John Alexander Inverarity.

The airplane departed RAF Kinloss on a night navigation exercise. While cruising at low altitude in limited visibility, it impacted the slope of a mountain in Cawdor Moor, near Nairn. Three crew members were seriously injured while four others were killed. Two days later, one of the survivor died from injuries sustained.
Crew (19th OTU):
F/Lt Raymond Wilson Pitts McFarland, pilot,
Sgt Kenneth Johnson Sampson, pilot, †
F/O Alexander Chalmers Barrie, navigator, †
Sgt Ronald Hartley, air bomber, †
F/Sgt Arthur Thomas Hawkins, wireless operator and air gunner, †
Sgt Ronald Alfred Hartwell, wireless operator and air gunner, †
Sgt Padley, air gunner.

Only half an hour in the flight, which was routed as Base – Lincoln – Peterborough – Base, the port engine failed, it was successfully re-started and it ran at full power, however after only 3 to 4 minutes this engine failed again. The Instructor took over the controls and ordered the crew to take up crash positions, however Sgt Belec was unable to leave the nose as the aircraft was fitted with dual controls which blocked his escape route. He then attempted a forced landing in one of the fields near Alsop, but found that none of the fields was large enough to land in. The aircraft touched down and ran the width of one field before it struck the boundary wall on the eastern side of the Buxton to Ashbourne railway (now the Tissington Trail) traveled across the line tearing up the track and came to rest part way down an adjoining field. Shortly before the crash a train travelling towards Ashbourne had passed by the site, had either the train been late or accident occurred a few minutes earlier the outcome could have been very different.
Crew:
F/O Ernest James Bull, pilot,
Sgt Norman James Prime, pilot,
Sgt Timothy Kennedy, navigator,
Sgt Gordon Belec, bomb aimer, †
Sgt Spencer Otty, wireless operator,
Sgt Edwin Fuller Harris, air gunner.
Source: https://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk

The airplane suffered an engine failure in flight and was ditched into the sea off Saint Annes Head. All five crew members were rescued by the crew of HMS Fury after having spent 7,5 hours in their dinghy.
Crew:
F/O Maurice George Harrison, pilot,
Sgt Cleaver,
F/Sgt Pryde,
P/O Rees,
Sgt Smith.

On approach to RAF Sleap, the airplane crashed in Loppington, 3 km northwest of the airbase. All five crew members were killed. The accident occurred after two missed approaches.
Crew:
Sgt Harry James Spiers, pilot,
Sgt Harold Leather, navigator,
Sgt John James Brown, bomb aimer,
Sgt James William Scott, wireless operator,
Sgt William Arthur Cadel, air gunner.