Short S.25 Sunderland

Crashed in unknown circumstances into the sea off Poole. There were no fatalities.

The seaplane departed Pembroke at 2300LT on March 4 on a flight to Gibraltar, carrying 11 crew members and three passengers, among them two French citizens. In the early morning of the following night, while cruising along the Portuguese coast, the crew encountered an unexpected situation and was forced to ditch the airplane off Leixões, north of Porto. All 14 occupants were rescued then the seaplane sank at 0710LT and was lost.
Crew:
F/Lt Daniel Michael McCarthy,
Sgt Stanley Edward Hoare,
Sgt Douglas George Truman,
F/Sgt Sydney Arthur Shaw,
F/Sgt Harry David Meagher,
F/O James Sinclair,
Sgt Reginald Arnott,
F/Sgt Richard Albert Knott,
F/Sgt Roy Laurence Cheeseman,
F/O Simon Rowan,
F/Lt Gordon Young.
Passengers:
Sir Harold Edward Whittingham, director of the Health Services from the Royal Air Force.

The crew of the aircraft had been on an operational patrol, carrying out a parallel track search, from Bowmore of the sea area RU58, having taken off at 0724LT. The sea state at Bowmore was not ideal that day and it was expected that after dark it would be too rough to land aircraft. The original ETA back at Bowmore for DV979 had been 1810LT which being just before last light and it was decided by Flying Control not to divert the crew to Lough Erne in Northern Ireland. At 1700LT the situation was reviewed and the flare path was laid in the calmest area of water available should the aircraft arrive a little late. Shortly after the crew made contact with Bowmore stating that they would be 50 minutes late, at this point they were told that if they had sufficient fuel they were to divert to Lough Erne. However at the time the aircraft was contacted they only had some 45 minutes fuel remaining and were unable to divert. At 1926LT, over a hour late and in near complete darkness, DV979 arrived back overhead at Bowmore. The flare path was ignited and Capt Lever was told that he could not overshoot his landing as the landing area finished close to where other aircraft were moored. He then warned his crew to expect a rough landing and gathered them in the upper deck around the cockpit.After gathering the crew Capt Lever and P/O Johnston began their approach overland from the north, intending to cross the northern shore of Loch Indaal at 200 feet and touch down as soon as possible. While approaching the coast the port float struck a building near the shore and the aircraft crashed a short distance beyond it. A fire quickly took hold and the crew began to evacuate the aircraft, at least nine had survived the crash. Captain Lever was spotted by Sgt Hogg wandering on the shore ahead of the aircraft and he called to Sgt Williams that they should go and get him. As the two Sergeants reached their Captain, about 30 yards away, the aircraft's Depth Charges detonated destroying the aircraft and killing outright the men who were still around the wreck to help pull trapped colleagues from the aircraft.
Crew (246th Squadron):
Cpt Eric John Lever, pilot,
P/O Wallace Arthur Johnston, pilot, †
Sgt Walter Eric Charles Heath, navigator, †
Sgt George Charles Major, bomb aimer, †
Sgt George Hogg, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt Roy John Jabour, wireless operator and air gunner, †
Sgt Ernest Geoff Palmer,wireless operator and air gunner, †
Sgt Henry John Tasker, wireless operator and air gunner, †
Sgt George Cyril Phillips, air gunner, †
Sgt John Ivor Williams, flight mechanic,
Sgt William Simpson, flight mechanic, †
Sgt Douglas Howarth, flight engineer. †
Source:
http://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/pages/scotland/scotlanddv979.htm

Crashed in unknown circumstances into the Atlantic Ocean, west of the Irish coast. Lost without trace.
Crew:
P/O Eric Bradley,
F/Lt Bruce Lyndon Buls,
F/O Hal Ian Comer Dent,
A1c Alexander Edward Elrick,
Sgt Percy Evans,
F/Sgt Owen Stewart Filmer,
Sgt John William Joseph Gill,
F/Sgt Noel Henry Raybould Hart,
F/O Jack Henry Moore,
F/O Henry Lawrence Osborne,
Sgt Roy Ambrose Stuart Tucker.

The crew was performing a night training sortie out from RAF Invergordon. On landing in the Cromarty Firth, the seaplane went out of control and sank. There were no casualties. Crew from the 4th OTU.

The crew departed Alexandria at 1600LT on January 1st to carry out a 10-hour anti-submarine patrol in protection of a convoy between Alexandria and Port Said. Several radio contacts were made at 1730LT and 2345LT. Nothing further was heard from 0230LT to 0830LT. In the next morning, the wreckage was spotted at 1100LT off Port Said. The seaplane crashed in unknown circumstances, killing all 12 crew members.
Crew (230th Squadron):
F/O R. H. Holcombe, pilot,
F/O R. W. Meaton, pilot,
F/O L. S. Clayton, pilot,
Sgt L. J. Webber, observer,
Sgt W. G. Darge, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt A. G. Daniels, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt M. Dean, wireless operator and air gunner,
Cpl J. Barnard, air gunner,
Sgt V. F. Butcher, air gunner,
Cpl E. A. F. Nicholas, air gunner,
Lac J. Savidge, air gunner,
Lac W. L. Purkiss, radio mechanic.

The crew was engaged in an antisubmarine patrol flight off the British coast on behalf of the fourth Operational Training Unit. Shortly after takeoff from RAF Invergordon, while climbing, the engine number three failed. Few seconds later, it caught fire and fell off, causing severe vibrations. The crew lost control of the airplane that crashed in a huge explosion on a railway road located 3 km northeast of the Invergordon Station. All 11 occupants were killed.
Crew (4th OTU):
F/Lt John Alfred Johnson, pilot,
F/O Garth Borland Johnson, pilot,
F/Sgt James Edward Porret, flight engineer,
Sgt Francis William George Cosgrave, flight engineer,
P/O Charles Marland Kendall, navigator,
W/O Clare Kinton, wireless operator,
W/O Fredrick John Peters, wireless operator,
F/L William Fedoruk, wireless operator,
F/O John Hodgson Shand, wireless operator,
Sgt Donald Charles Beattie, air gunner,
Sgt Milton Lynn Hill, air gunner.

The seaplane was engaged in a bombing practice mission. While dropping a depth charge into a suspected minefield off Trevose Head, Cornwall, the force of the explosion caused multiple damage to the starboard float, aileron and elevator as well a several holes in the hull and wings. In such conditions, the crew decided to ditch the airplane some 60 km off Saint Annes Head. All nine crew members found refuse in dinghies and the airplane sank five minutes after landing.

The seaplane was returning to RAF Mount Batten from Gibraltar, carrying 10 crew members and five passengers. It approached the flare path near RAF Mount Batten but overshot in the heavy fog and had to climb and circle to starboard before attempting another approach. The airplane continued to starboard and as it made a second approach in almost zero visibility suddenly crashed into the sea approximately 3 km from the breakwater lighthouse. The aircraft hit the water with the starboard wing down, turn on its back and broke in two. All five passengers were killed and the 10 crew members were rescued 90 minutes later.
Crew:
F/Lt Wynton P. Thorpe, pilot,
P/O R. P. Gray, pilot,
F/O F. J. Lees, pilot,
P/O William S. Moore, navigator,
Cpl D. E. Bennington, fitter,
Cpl D. L. Graham, rigger,
Sgt R. B. Wilkinson, wireless operator,
Sgt S. J. Smith, wireless operator,
LAC P. Stanton, armourer,
Sgt D. G. Keating, air gunner.
Passengers :
Brig W. Vogel,
Cpt G. W. Wadham,
Cpt Frederic Thornton Peters,
Cdr R. R. Devlin,
Sgt Ryall Edward Cordrey, air gunner.

The seaplane departed the Abu Qir seaplane base at 0545LT on a maritime patrol flight over the Mediterranean Sea. About 35 minutes into the flight, the engine n°1 failed. The captain decided to stall the aircraft that broke its back while hitting the water surface. Three crew members were killed while nine others were rescued. The aircraft sank and was lost.
Crew (230th Squadron):
F/O R. J. Murphy, pilot,
P/O R. C. Scott, pilot,
F/O T. W. Sanderson, pilot,
P/O A. H. Matthews, navigator,
F/Sgt J. Harkins, wireless operator,
Sgt Kenneth Charles Carlsson, wireless operator, †
Sgt James Adam, wireless operator, †
Sgt J. Groleau, air gunner,
Sgt Gordon Alexander Lindsay, air gunner, †
Sgt D. Hall, flight engineer,
LAC D. McLean, fitter,
LAC N. Kelly, rigger.
Source by Alan Storr:
http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RC09125_007--1-.pdf