How to find a WW2 crash site

[Vitesse]

There's some interest locally in identifying the site where a Hampden bomber came down. Next year is the seventieth anniversary.

L4117 crashed on 31st July or 1st August 1942. One crewman, an RAAF officer named Clarke later died of his injuries in a nearby hospital.

I've seen three documents which mention fields near different locations. One describes a small hamlet. Another mentions a larger village that would probably include the hamlet. The third cites a farm two miles away from the village (I thought that would be it) but the farm's name does not come up on any computer search I've tried so far, which is slightly unusual these days. I've also scanned the OS maps looking for it.

I'd appreciate any thoughts where I might look next.

[taxydual]

Have a look at this

Lost Bombers - World War II Lost Bombers (http://www.lostbombers.co.uk/bomber.php?id=4275)

[Vitesse]

Thanks Taxydual -

I've already looked there - although the location given is very general, the description of the circumstance suggests a fairly horrible ordeal.

They must have crossed the coast only a few minutes before crashing and presumably had little idea of their position. I'd hope they had some sight of the ground at the end.

[Vitesse]

I've just realised that the farm I've been looking for is miss-spelled in the document I found.

Woodbardon Farm is actually Wood Barton Farm. It's exactly where it should be in relation to the village and hamlet I found earlier.

Don't suppose there's any signs of the crash on google earth after so long.

[Old-Duffer]

Had a similar problem near my own village with a Lancaster and a Halifax in a collision and ending up in separate holes.

Simple starting point was to find the oldest inhabitants in the village and ask them!

Old Duffer

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Aerial photography at the end of a dry spell/summer, metal detecting and ground resistance measurement are probably good methods for finding impact craters/material (if there's any left). Try local archeological types, or a tame physicist / chemist with an interest in this. Maybe even Time Team.

[Vitesse]

Old Duffer - Your solution would probably be spot on. I'm waiting to see what's published in the local paper this week to see if anyone else has any info. The natives round here usually live longer than the average so should be someone who remembers.

Fox3 - I quite like the idea of Tony Robinson! I think the farm actually belongs to my next-door neighbour's son. Not sure if he'd thank me for having Time Team descend! I will have a word with him though. He's a nice chap.

Cheers!

[talkpedlar]

"Strayed from track and crash-landed in a field at Loddiswell, 16 miles SW of Torbay" ....

16 miles SW of Torbay? That would be in the sea, surely... or am I being dumb? TP

[ICT_SLB]

Torbay is actually quite far north & east of the Salcombe peninsula - a quick check shows Loddiswell to be in the South Hams here (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loddiswell,+devon&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wl).

[talkpedlar]

..you are right!

[ICT_SLB]

It helps to be born in Torbay Hospital.

[Vitesse]

I got the chance to speak with my neighbour's son today.

He very recently sold the property and has moved out. He reckons the farm is much smaller than it used to be and that the crash site (which we assume is on the higher ground) is part of another farm.

He was interested to hear about the crash. His father then went on to tell us about the air raids and dog fights he witnessed over Portsmouth.

It's quite something to hear things first hand and clearly recalled.

[Vitesse]

Just to finish up the thread, the local paper today published the rest of the story as related to an historian by ex-members of the home guard. The location matches with what I'd found earlier.

It seems the Hampden came down around 7.30 am (would have been daylight) and was spotted by several locals. It should have been heading for Cottesmore after raiding Dusseldorf - the crew actually thought they were over France.

The Hampden circled and attempted a wheels down landing in a cornfield. The undercarriage was ripped off by a hedgerow and the aircraft carried on into another field.

The navigator had been injured earlier and the pilot suffered a broken arm. The rear (more like a mid upper?) gunner had been hit with machine gun fire and died later in the local hospital.