Date & Time:
Jul 2, 1943 at 1637 LT
Type of aircraft:
Short S.29 Stirling
Operator:
Registration:
BK724
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
10
Crew fatalities:
7
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
During the course of a fighter affiliation exercise, involving a Beaufighter, the bomber collided in the air with another Sterling registered EF394 that was carrying a crew of nine. Following the collision, both airplanes dove into the ground and crashed in Stansfield, 14 km northwest of Sudbury. Three crew survived while seven others were killed. Among the crew of the second Stirling, eight were killed and only one survived.
Crew:
F/Sgt Thomas Corless, pilot, †
Sgt William Shearer, pilot, †
Sgt Ralph Charles Young, flight engineer, †
A1c Arthur Haigh, mechanic, †
Lac Charles Storey Forster, †
Lac James Alexander MacDonald, †
Sgt Leslie Gordon Turville, wireless operator, †
Sgt F. Waite,
Sgt K. Halstead,
Sgt J. McCandlish.
Crew:
F/Sgt Thomas Corless, pilot, †
Sgt William Shearer, pilot, †
Sgt Ralph Charles Young, flight engineer, †
A1c Arthur Haigh, mechanic, †
Lac Charles Storey Forster, †
Lac James Alexander MacDonald, †
Sgt Leslie Gordon Turville, wireless operator, †
Sgt F. Waite,
Sgt K. Halstead,
Sgt J. McCandlish.
