149 Sqd Stirling crash Thorney Island

[colinpateman]

I have posted this on the Stirling Sub Section but hope placing it also on the general box I may just strike lucky.

Stirling LJ477 crash landed at Thorney Island on the 6 July 1944. It was an aircraft from 149 Squadron engaged in an SOE supply drop in France. Has any member had an interest in this previously or anyone able to offer advice on the possibility of any Thorney Island Station Records to gleen anything from. Flight Sergeant F L A White the crews Navigator was the only casualty in the forced landing the remaining crew suffered injuries. It would appear this was a significant wheels up landing as a result of serious flak damage I suppose I will be limited in finding out more unless Thorney Island kept detailed daily logs but as this Stirling was not based on the Island I might be engaged in wishful thinking.

Many thanks as always to any forum member who may be able to offer advice. Colin

[colinpateman]

As an update on this matter. No information exists on the Thorney Island station records and the Aircraft Loss card for this Atirling no longer appears to be in existance. The powers above are thwarting my every move to try and find out anything on this aircraft or her demise.
If she should pop up in anyones research I would be most pleased to hear, thank you all.

[AlanW]

Hi Colin,
Not much in the 149sqdn ORB either

[colinpateman]

Alan.
Kind of you to post the ORB entry, it has prompted me to look into the fact that the Rear Gunner was a Canadian. It may just be possible that the RCAF records may help.

Thanks again. Colin.

[wayne]

Hello Colin,

As well as the Canadian on board, I see the Australian Air Bomber listed.
His A705 is not yet available, but for i think $16 Aus you can have it digitised.
This is how it is listed;
STANNUS, Harold Richardson - (Flying Officer); Service Number - 421411; File type - Casualty - Repatriation; Aircraft - Stirling III LJ477; Place - Thorney Island, England; Date - 6 July 1944
Might be another option.

Regards,
Wayne.

[smudgersmith218]

Hi,

I had a look for the AM Form 1180 Accident Card for this prang, strangely I could not find one, I did for every other prang on either side of the date but nothing for this aircraft.

Does anyone have a Accident Card for LJ447 ?

Regards

Steve

[colinpateman]

Wayne.
I was interested to read your comments :

His A705 is not yet available, but for i think $16 Aus you can have it digitised.
This is how it is listed;
STANNUS, Harold Richardson - (Flying Officer); Service Number - 421411; File type - Casualty - Repatriation; Aircraft - Stirling III LJ477; Place - Thorney Island, England; Date - 6 July 1944

Do you think this would include details of the incident - To me it reads like he was repatriated to Australia once fit to do so after this crash landing, is this A705 a repatriation document ? A great lead for me to follow thank you.
Colin.

[AlanW]

Colin,
The A705 is a Casualty File, and the term "Repatriation" is not used in the context of sending them home, it is used even when the person in question was killed in action over Germany and occupied countries. A large proportion of A705's have MREU reports on the cause and location of aircraft shot down on ops, and also information on what happened to crew members, (sometimes quite graphic) from eye witness reports, so it's quite possible that there may be something on the loss of this aircraft in Stannus's file. Cost at approx £12 Sterling. The Nominal Roll entry for Stannus states that at his time of discharge from the RAAF, on July 31st 1946, he was in 3 RAAF Hospital.

[smudgersmith218]

Colin,

A note of caution regarding these reports. I have ordered a few of these and as Alan rightly says they can often be full of invaluable information, however from my experience some of these reports leave a lot to be desired, understandably so in some situations. Given this a/c crashed in the UK especially under these circumstances it would have been investigated to attributed “blame” or cause, what is interesting is there is no AM Form 1180 Report?

I have two 218 Squadron prangs in the UK with fatalities including RAAF airman and both only give a brief “overview” report on the circumstances of their death in their A705. The actual crash investigation is on the other hand extremely detailed and gives an astonishing amount of data. I found details in the following files at the NA : Air 14 /1000 and Air 14/2160.

Was 149 squadron attached to RAF Tempsford at the time, if so try Air27/8249

ROYAL AIR FORCE: Stations (Code 67/36): RAF Tempsford (Bomber Command): reports of operations aircraft losses, accidents and occurrences.

Steve

[colinpateman]

Alan & Steve.
Thank you, I have found the Australian Reference and ordered the download as it is almost my only hope of anything. Looks like I will be lucky if I get much, however I will never know until I do. The RAF museum have searched for the accident card without any trace.

Steve do you think it is worth a search in NA : Air 14 /1000 and Air 14/2160 for this crash, are these reprts referenced by date, location or Squadron. Your advice will be invaluable here as this is not my area in any respect !

149 Sqd were in July heavily committed with SOE work but I can find nothing to confirme any official detached flight. Looks like they simply took on the work to suppliment the dedicated units. For that reason once again my options are limited. The hunt for information however is simply facinating, thank you once again.
Colin.