Had a strange series of events last year,I knew my father had been killed when the Wellington he was flying crashed on take off in 1944,the family knew almost nothing about the crash,why where when ect
My sister in Gloucester got a email from a cousin in Hayling Island who in turn had got a email from a cousin in Australia who in turn had received a email from a chap in Gloucester enquiering about a Sgt Arthur Draper who was killed when his Wellington Bomber crashed in 1944.
Anyway I eventually got the chaps email and contacted him,turns out he was researching Wellington crashes in Shropshire area and this one in particular,so after 63 years we finally got information on my fathers last flight.
He was undergoing training at 83 Operational Training Unit based at Childs Ercall (Peplow) airfield. On the 3rd March 1944 the crew took off for a night exercise at 12.27 am in Wellington LN164. While climbing away he port engine failed. Being unable to maintain height, the aircraft began to lose height. The aircraft struck some trees before clipping the top of a row of dutch barns finally coming to rest in the attic space of a barn at Cherrington Manor, Cherrington in Shropshire at 12.35 am. The flight lasted just 8 minutes.
Sadly, your father was killed in the crash. The rest of the crew were injured. One of the crew was awarded the BEM for his efforts in rescuing the pilot who was badly injured.
Sadly the all the surviving crew died when the Wellington they were flying disappeared on a flight to the middle east
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I understand the Wellington was notoriously underpowered and a engine loss on take off generaly resulted in a crash.
