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Date: | Tuesday 14 November 1939 |
Time: | 11:30 |
Type: | Bristol Blenheim Mk IF |
Owner/operator: | 145 Sqn RAF |
Registration: | L1286 |
MSN: | |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
Other fatalities: | 0 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | Folly Farm, Hagbourne Hill 1mile of RAF Harwell, Oxfordshire, England -
United Kingdom
|
Phase: | Take off |
Nature: | Military |
Departure airport: | RAF Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire |
Destination airport: | RAF Croydon, Surrey |
Confidence Rating: | Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Narrative:Blenheim L1286: Written off (destroyed) 14/11/39 when lost control in cloud and flew into the ground, near RAF Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire. (At approximate co ordinates 51.5793 N, 1.2849308 W).
Blenheim L1286: Took off for a Ferry flight from RAF Kemble to RAF Croydon. 14/11/1939.
The pilot he was ferrying the Blenheim from 5 Maintenance Unit from RAF Kemble in Gloucestershire to
145 Sqdn at RAF Croydon in Surrey and was forced to land at RAF Harwell due to low cloud and very bad visibility. He took off again immediately. After takeoff from RAF Harwell, the pilot entered clouds. He lost control in clouds of the airplane and dove into the ground. He crashed into the hills which were in low cloud. The ORB shows that P/O Ross crashed in Folly Farm, Blewbury 1 mile of RAF Harwell at 11:30 hrs.
Crew:
P/O (90913) William Ronald ROSS (pilot) RAF killed.
According to one published source (see link #5)
"When the war started, on 3 September 1939, 75 and 148 squadrons were the units flying from Harwell. The first burial at Harwell was that of Pilot Officer W. R. Ross (90913) who died on 14 November 1939, aged 27 years. His Bristol Blenheim, L1286, crashed at Blewbury at 11:30 hrs while he was ferrying the Blenheim from 5 Maintenance Unit from Kemble in Gloucestershire to 145 Sqn at Croydon in Surrey and was forced to land at Harwell due to low cloud and very bad visibility. He took off again immediately but crashed on the hills which were in low cloud. The Operational Record Book shows that P/O Ross crashed 1 mile from Harwell and was killed instantly.
Records also indicate that he served with 604 Sqn, and was the son of Lt.Col.Henry and Mrs Betty Ross. His funeral took place on the 17 November 1939".
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley Air Britain, 1978 p 8)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/1657:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16359696 3.
http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1939a.htm 4.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2436410/ross,-william-ronald/ 5.
https://harwellvillage.uk/raf-harwell-war-graves/ 6.
http://museum.uffington.net/resources/jimjones/docs/RAF_Harwell_history.pdf 7.
https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/hagbourne-hill-south-oxfordshire 8. 145 Squadron RAF ORB (Air Ministry Form 540) 01 October 1939-31 May 1940:
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8388950 9.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/64698007/william-ronald-ross 10.
http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Surrey/GodalmingCharthouseSchoolWW2.html Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
26-Apr-2018 20:33 |
Dr. John Smith |
Added |
24-Jun-2019 22:59 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Time, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
17-Jul-2024 11:49 |
Nepa |
Updated [Time, Location, Narrative, Operator, ] |
17-Jul-2024 17:36 |
Nepa |
Updated [Location, Phase, Narrative, Operator, ] |