Dear All Please find attached photographs of the Graves of the 5 Czech Airmen buried in Pinner New Cemetery. They were from 311 Squadron and died in a crash in the grounds of Bentley Priory on 16/10/40 The info below some what conflicts as to the exact cause of the crash "Czech and Slovak things" web site N2771 Wellington KX-H Returning with heavy damage from a raid on Bremen, the aircraft collided with the cable of a barrage balloon and crashed on the tennis courts at Bentley Priory, Stanmore, headquarters of Fighter Command. The five crew members listed above were killed and are buried together in a communal grave, G4-17. A sixth, Por.F.Truhlář, survived, although with serious burns. " lostbombers" web site operation:Kiel "Serial Range N2735 - N2784. 50 Wellington Mk.1C. Part of a batch of 100 Wellington Mk.1C. N2735-N2784; N2800-N2829; N2840-N2859. Delivered by Vickers (Chester) in July and August 1940. N2755; N2801; N2856; N2857 converted to Mk.XV. Airborne from East Wretham. Iced up while outbound and crashed 2145 16Oct40, near Bentley Priory, Middlesex. S/L J.Vesely KIA P/O J.Matousek KIA P/O J.Slaby KIA Sgt J.Albrecht KIA Sgt F.Zapletal KIA P/O F.Truhlar Inj " TRUHLÁŘ František, F/Lt, 82643 , 312 Sqdn, kpt./R/plk. * 19/11/17, Lomnice n. Popelkou /Semily/ , Pilot † 03/12/46
I am very interested in the history of Bentley Priory, particularly the WW 2 era. I knew of the fatal air crash in 1940 but did not know that Czech crew are buried at Pinner New Cemetery. I live near by and will visit to pay my respects. Thank you so much for this information. John Stan Soc
Dear All Please find attached photographs of the Graves of the 5 Czech Airmen buried in Pinner New Cemetery. They were from 311 Squadron and died in a crash in the grounds of Bentley Priory on 16/10/40 The info below some what conflicts as to the exact cause of the crash "Czech and Slovak things" web site N2771 Wellington KX-H Returning with heavy damage from a raid on Bremen, the aircraft collided with the cable of a barrage balloon and crashed on the tennis courts at Bentley Priory, Stanmore, headquarters of Fighter Command. The five crew members listed above were killed and are buried together in a communal grave, G4-17. A sixth, Por.F.Truhlář, survived, although with serious burns. " lostbombers" web site operation:Kiel "Serial Range N2735 - N2784. 50 Wellington Mk.1C. Part of a batch of 100 Wellington Mk.1C. N2735-N2784; N2800-N2829; N2840-N2859. Delivered by Vickers (Chester) in July and August 1940. N2755; N2801; N2856; N2857 converted to Mk.XV. Airborne from East Wretham. Iced up while outbound and crashed 2145 16Oct40, near Bentley Priory, Middlesex. S/L J.Vesely KIA P/O J.Matousek KIA P/O J.Slaby KIA Sgt J.Albrecht KIA Sgt F.Zapletal KIA P/O F.Truhlar Inj " TRUHLÁŘ František, F/Lt, 82643 , 312 Sqdn, kpt./R/plk. * 19/11/17, Lomnice n. Popelkou /Semily/ , Pilot † 03/12/46 From BCL Vol. 1 - W R. Chorley 16-17 October 1940 311 Squadron Wellington IC N2771 KX- Op. Kiel The aircraft took off from East Wretham and iced up while outbound and crashed at 2145 hrs near Bentley Priory, at least five crew members died in the crash and a sixth was reported injured. .................. Always best to cross ref when using 'lost bombers' the site is almost a direct plagiarism of the series 'Bomber Command Losses' by W R. Chorley
ALBRECHT, JOSEF Rank: Sergeant Service No: 787410 Date of Death: 16/10/1940 Age: 25 Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 311 (Czech) Sqdn. Grave Reference Sec. G.4. Coll. grave 17. Cemetery HARROW (PINNER) NEW CEMETERY Additional Information: Of Czechoslovakia. MATOUSEK, JAROSLAV Rank: Pilot Officer Service No: 82524 Date of Death: 16/10/1940 Age: 25 Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 311 (Czech) Sqdn. Grave Reference Sec. G.4. Coll. grave 17. Cemetery HARROW (PINNER) NEW CEMETERY Additional Information: Of Czechoslovakia. SLABY, JAROSLAV Rank: Pilot Officer Service No: 82637 Date of Death: 16/10/1940 Age: 25 Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 311 (Czech) Sqdn. Grave Reference Sec. G.4. Coll. grave 17. Cemetery HARROW (PINNER) NEW CEMETERY Additional Information: Of Czechoslovakia. VESELY, JAN Rank: Squadron Leader Service No: 82582 Date of Death: 16/10/1940 Age: 34 Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 311 (Czech) Sqdn. Grave Reference Sec. G.4. Coll. grave 17. Cemetery HARROW (PINNER) NEW CEMETERY Additional Information: Of Czechoslovakia. ZAPLETAL, FRANT Rank: Sergeant Service No: 787242 Date of Death: 16/10/1940 Age: 30 Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 311 (Czech) Sqdn. Grave Reference Sec. G.4. Coll. grave 17. Cemetery HARROW (PINNER) NEW CEMETERY Additional Information: Of Czechoslovakia.
A crash at 21:45 in mid October would suggest being outbound. It would therefore have still had it's bomb load aboard. Low enough to hit a barrage balloon cable (and Bentley Priory SHOULD have been well defended!) would also tie in with icing problems. Of course, if an eye witness account says it was on fire, engine out or whatever, then the other scenario might come back into play! On the face of the information, BCL seems to have it right. Bad night for 311 Sqd, losing L7786 and N2773 that night, attacking Bremen, following the loss of L7844 the night before, whilst attacking shipping and shipyards at Kiel.
Location of tennis courts at RAF Bentley Priory top left of photo. RAF Bentley Priory, Stanmore, Middlesex - Desk Based Assessment 2007
I see we are mentioned on the link Date mentions 17th Oct ? Date: 17-OCT-1940 Time: 21:45 Type: Vickers Wellington Mk IC Owner/operator: 311 Squadron Royal Air Force (311 Sqn RAF) Registration: N2771 C/n / msn: Fatalities: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 6 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Bentley Priory, near Stanmore, Middlesex - United Kingdom Phase: Approach Nature: Military Departure airport: RAF East Wretham Norfolk Destination airport: Narrative: Delivered to 311 Sqn, RAF coded 'KX-H'. Crashed 21:45 hours at Bentley Priory, near Stanmore, Middlesex, after taking off for a raid on Kiel 17/10/40; aircraft became iced up, suffered radio failure and the crew were unable to obtain an accurate fix, which all contributed to the aircraft crashing. Other sources state the N2771 collided with the the cable of a barrage balloon. Five of the six crew were killed: Accident Vickers Wellington Mk IC N2771, 17 Oct 1940
16th October 1940 001 ALBRECHT J 787410 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17 007 MATOUSEK J 82524 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17. 008 SLABY J 82637 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17. 009 VESELY J 82582 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17. 010 ZAPLETAL F 787242 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17.
16th October 1940 001 ALBRECHT J 787410 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17 007 MATOUSEK J 82524 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17. 008 SLABY J 82637 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17. 009 VESELY J 82582 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17. 010 ZAPLETAL F 787242 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17.
RAF Bentley Priory - Wikipedia Wellington crash[edit] On 16 October 1940 a Vickers Wellington of the Czechoslovak-crewed No. 311 Squadron RAF collided with a cable of one of the barrage balloons protecting Bentley Priory. The aircraft had been on a bombing mission from RAF East Wretham to Kiel, but suffered icing and the failure of its compass and radio and was badly off-course.[5] The Wellington crashed outside the sergeants' mess,[citation needed] killing five of its six crew.[5] They are buried in a single shared grave at Pinner New Cemetery,[6] 4 miles (6.4 km) from Bentley Priory. The tail gunner survived with serious burns. He later retrained as a fighter pilot and served with No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF.[5]
Interested in this crash. The crew actually departed from RAF Honington, 311 (Czech) 'Operational' crews would fly their Wellingtons from West Wretham to Honington to be fuelled and bombed up, and the crews briefed along with IX Squadron. The target for 311 was actually, Bremen, they were the only squadron tasked, other 3 Group squadrons were given Kiel Harbour. Has the Collison with the balloon cable ever been confirmed. I am awaiting a copy of the Air81 on this crash. Cheers Steve
Czech and Slovak things" web site N2771 Wellington KX-H Returning with heavy damage from a raid on Bremen, the aircraft collided with the cable of a barrage balloon and crashed on the tennis courts at Bentley Priory, Stanmore, headquarters of Fighter Command. The five crew members listed above were killed and are buried together in a communal grave, G4-17. A sixth, Por.F.Truhlář, survived, although with serious burns. " lostbombers" web site operation:Kiel
Never heard of West Wretham, I'm sure you mean East Wretham. About 5 miles NE from Thetford, Norfolk.