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Bombercrew.com Forum -> Bombercrew.com Forum -> Wellington crash at Old Leake, Lincs, 7 February 1943
Post Info TOPIC: Wellington crash at Old Leake, Lincs, 7 February 1943
Christopher Sykes


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Wellington crash at Old Leake, Lincs, 7 February 1943
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Hello, I'm new here and I'm keen to find out as much as I can about what happened to my uncle, Sgt John Sykes, who trained in Canada (where he became RCAF Table Tennis Champion in, I think, late 1942!) and then transferred to RAF Cottesmore for further training as a bomb-aimer in Wellingtons. He and the other crew members were killed on the morning of Sunday 7 February 1943 on a training flight from Saltby in which the aircraft failed to recover from a stall and hit the ground and bust into flames. The plane came down at 'Grant's Farm, Old Leake Commonside' in Lincolnshire. I would be very grateful for any help or advice on how best to research the full details of this incident and how it came about, as well as the details of my uncle's career. I plan to approach the RAF and to visit the National archives at Kew but I'm not sure exactly what I should be asking for or looking looking for. I will carry on looking on the web but this forum looks like a good place to be asking for information. Thank you in advance.

Christopher Sykes



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Christopher Sykes
Christopher Sykes


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CORRECTION: the crash was Sunday 6 February 1943 , not the 7th. Image attached

Christopher Sykes



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Christopher Sykes
John W


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Hi Christopher,

Welcome to the site, you should go to the MOD and request his service file, I understand it does take a couple of months and will cost £30 but that should give you all his service details. Chorley's book Volume 7 Bomber Command Losses OTU 1940-1947 gives the same account as you attached but adds at the bottom, 'It was recommended that exercises of this nature , involving heavy aircraft, should not be attempted below 3,000 feet'. 

I know here in Oz you can get hold of the incident report which details the crash and its recommendations, and I sure the UK PRO will have something similar and someone in the UK will tell you what to ask for.

Good luck with your research,

 

Cheers,

 

John.



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Christopher Sykes


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John, thank you very much for this - very helpful and I shall do as you suggest and apply for Jack's service file. I've also made an appointment at the PRO/National Archives in Kew to look at AIR29/652 which the catalogue lists as the Operations Record Book for RAF Cottesmore and hopefully I will find the incident report. It's very useful to know what Chorley says - it's not so easy to find a library nearby that has his book(s) and I was wondering about buying vol 7 through Amazon but if there's no more than what I already know plus your (interesting, and rather heartbreaking) addition, then perhaps I don't need to after all.

Thank again - as we all keep saying, isn't the web a wonderful thing!

Christopher

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Christopher Sykes
AW


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Christopher, apply to RAF Museum, Dept of Research and Information (DoRIS) via their website, for a copy of AM Form 1180 (Accident Record Card) for Wellington W5667.

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AlanW
Christopher Sykes


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That's great. Thank you very much.

 

Christopher



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Christopher Sykes
MikeH


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Hi Chris,

it maybe worth contacting the Old Leake Parish Council, the incident may have been recorded or perhaps locals remember it.

 

http://parishes.lincolnshire.gov.uk/OldLeake/section.asp?catId=22290

 

 

Mike.H

 



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Christopher Sykes


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Hi Mike,

Thank you for this excellent suggestion. By coincidence, a lady from Old Leake whom I had contacted a few days ago phoned back yesterday to say she'd just been to church and there is a plaque commemorating the crash, with the crew names. She is going to send me a photo! Better still, she put me in touch with a Mr Young, now in his 80's, who saw the plane come down. I've spoken to him and he's told me exactly where it happened and I so I've been able to find the field on the map and Google Earth. Mr Young was 17 at the time and rode to the crash site on his bicycle (a Raleigh!). He and his friends were told by police that the aircrew had died instantly. Strangely, he doesn't recall any flames, as mentioned in the report.

Many thanks to everybody for their help with this - very rewarding.


Christopher

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Christopher Sykes
Christopher Sykes


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PS. I've written off for Jack's service file, and I'm going to the National archives tomorrow to look at the Cottesmore ORB.

I've attached a photo of Jack (Sgt. John Sykes)



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Christopher Sykes
davepattern


Aircraftsman 1st Class

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Hi Christopher

In case it's of interest, I happened to take a couple of photos today of the Sykes family plot in the graveyard of St. Paul's, the parish church of Armitage Bridge, Huddersfield:

www.flickr.com/photos/davepattern/18163932115/
www.flickr.com/photos/davepattern/18137443456/

I'm unlikely to check back on this forum (only registered to post this!), but would be interested in knowing more about John and the crash if you want to email me: davepattern@gmail.com

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