Anson LS986

Discussion in 'The War In The Air' started by PaulC, Nov 21, 2019.

  1. PaulC

    PaulC IFCP Volunteer

    Just wondering if someone can help me with this crash which occurred near Hesket Newmarket in Cumberland on 9 August 1943. Basically I'm researching P/O Ian G F W Hamilton 141785 who died on the same date. Google search led me to the following site which appears to have him as one of two crewmembers who were killed in the incident:

    Incident Avro Anson LS986, 09 Aug 1943

    Further searching led me to the next two sites which seem to give conflicting info about the crew and suggest that there were no casualties:

    Anson LS986 - High Pike.
    Crash of an Avro 652 Anson I in Hesket Newmarket | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

    Newspaper reports for Hamilton say that he died in hospital at Oxford following an operation and mention nothing of a crash. Oxford is quite a long way from Cumberland...

    Is anyone able to set me straight on this one?
     
  2. alieneyes

    alieneyes Senior Member

    Hi Paul,

    Of the three links posted the only one I'd trust would be the Yorkshire crashes one.

    Too many people out there seeing an airman dying one day and an aircraft crashing on the same day ergo said airman must have been in said crash.

    P/O Hamilton was on strength with No. 1651 Heavy Conversion Unit when he died. That there was no crash on this unit seems to indicate his death was either an accident or disease. No. 1651 HCU was at Waterbeach at the time of his death.

    Confirmation of his unit is found: https://archive.cloud.cwgc.org/archive/doc/doc5166792.JPG

    2nd entry from the bottom.

    Regards,

    Dave
     
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  3. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

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  4. PaulC

    PaulC IFCP Volunteer

    Cheers Dave, I'll disregard the dodgy "info".
     
  5. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    Your first link also contains a link to RAFCommands website, where one chap in particular has for many years been tracing airmen to crashes or location, where possible.
    Read through the responses on this thread 430809 - Unaccounted airmen - 9-8-1943
    The Anson crash had NO fatalities.
    Hamilton is not linked to any aircraft crash and may simply have died from complications following unspecified surgery.
    In this instance, I'd trust the newspaper.
    and see GORTON WORLD WAR TWO SURNAMES H TO J
    Son of the late Charles William and Mary Ellen Hardy (nee Bates) of 427 Abbey Hey Lane, Gorton.
    Also buried in this grave: Charles William Hardy (Hamilton) so presumably a family plot first occupied by his father, and then his son? Is there another headstone which will clarify who died first?

    EDIT TO ADD: Commissioned SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 8 JUNE, 1943 page 2619
    1001876 Ian Graham Fairley Willan HAMILTON (141785). 22nd Mar. 1943.
    (Presume "Willan" is a typo, in view William was one of his fathers names?)
     
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  6. alieneyes

    alieneyes Senior Member

    You copied the information on Samuel Hardy (one below) Hamilton on the Gorton WWII site.

    [​IMG]
     
  7. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    Doh! Thanks for spotting!
     
  8. PaulC

    PaulC IFCP Volunteer

    In case there was any doubt, Hamilton's death certificate states that he died from broncho pneumonia following meningitis. So, nothing at all to do with the crash in Cumberland...

    (As an aside, I'm now inclined to think that "Willan" is the correct spelling of his middle name, since this also appears on the DC and by the look of it his BC too. Perhaps this and "Fairley" were family surnames that were passed down as middle names?)
     
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  9. dp_burke

    dp_burke Junior Member

    Good work on that. The key thing to remember with the ASN website, love it or hate it, you can submit edits, without an account.
    So, I submitted an edit to the entry just now removing the incorrect crew names, correcting the crew total and providing links to this thread, the RAFC thread and the Yorkshire Aircraft website.

    Edit: And that change is visible already two hours later.
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2019
  10. PaulC

    PaulC IFCP Volunteer

    The other burials in this grave had me scratching my head, but according to notices in the Manchester Evening News and his recently opened record in the 1939 Register, Ian was the ward of George & Lucy Hardman at 318 Hyde Road, Gorton.
     

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