ATC Glider Crash Downhill Co Londonderry 16th July 1947

Discussion in 'The War In The Air' started by chrisharley9, Oct 13, 2020.

  1. chrisharley9

    chrisharley9 Senior Member

    Evening All

    Cadet Raymond Alan Glass aged 19 was killed in the crash of a Slingsby Cadet TX.1 of 203 Elementary Gliding School, RAF on this date. I have attached the newspaper article showing the details of the incident.
    Raymond is at present non commemorated by CWGC a situation I hope to resolve. Does anyone have any further details or know where I can get hold of the aircraft crash card.

    Cheers

    Chris
     

    Attached Files:

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  2. Jagan

    Jagan Junior Member

    Glass was being discussed just a couple of days ago at RAFcommands as well.
    ATC casualties WW2
     
  3. Blutto

    Blutto Banned

    To salve my curiosity, could anyone explain why an ATC cadet who died in a gliding incident in 1947 qualifies as 'war dead' and thus commemoration on the CWGC?
     
  4. Jagan

    Jagan Junior Member

  5. jonheyworth

    jonheyworth Senior Member

    Hi Jagan , this one is via me . If I find anyone lost or left out I pass it onto Chris Harley as he has forgotten more in this category than I’ll ever learn
     
    Jagan likes this.
  6. Blutto

    Blutto Banned

    Thank you. It wasn't obvious from a logical sense.
     
  7. Peter Clare

    Peter Clare Very Senior Member

    The following is taken from 'Final Landings' - Colin Cummings.

    16 July 1947

    Glider 203 EGS.

    The pilot, an instructor with the Gliding School, took off in the late evening on a training flight in preparation for his ‘C’ Certificate. The aircraft was seen by the Schools chief instructor for several minutes, about 300 feet above some cliffs but then it disappeared from view. When it was realised that the aircraft had crashed, a rescue attempt was mounted, involving first, an officer and later a civilian, both of whom were lowered into a gulley in the cliffs. The officer extracted the pilot from the aircraft but was then injured during the attempt to hoist the casualty out of the gully. The civilian became trapped whilst attempting a second rescue but by this stage, the pilot had died. The two rescuers; Flying Officer Victor McNabney and Mr Patrick Corr, were forced to spend the night in the gulley. Both men were awarded the George Medal for their attempts to rescue the pilot and the citations for their awards are below:

    Flying Officer Victor McNabey RAFVR, 203 Gliding School Air Training Corps London Gazette 9 Dec 47

    On 16 Jul 47 a glider piloted by Mr R A Glass, an instructor attached to 203 Gliding School, crashed on a hillside in an
    inaccessible part of the Downhill Gliding site near Colraine Northern Ireland, seriously injuring the pilot. In the early stages of the rescue work the main rescue party, which included Flying Officer McNabey could not approach the wreckage beyond a point about 50ftet above it. Flying Officer McNabey was lowered by a rope to the wreck where he made the pilot comfortable. The rope was then used in an attempt to lift Mr Glass up to the main party. Whilst this was in progress, Flying Officer McNabey climbed up in the darkness alongside Mr Glass, who was unconscious, shielding him from bruising and holding him out of the stream of the waterfall. After 30ftet of this climb had been achieved, further rescue gear became available. When attempting to adjust this on Mr Glass, Flying Officer McNabey fell back to the ledge where he lay unconscious for approximately 30 minutes. Had he landed a few feet away he would have fallen a further 300 feet on one side or into the path of the waterfall on the other, where he might have been drowned whilst unconscious. When Flying Officer McNabey regained consciousness Mr Glass was dead and no further help could be given to either of them. Flying Officer McNabey was stranded on the ledge washed by the waterfall until rescued the next morning.

    Patrick Corr Potato Inspector, Ministry of Agriculture, Northern Ireland London Gazette 23 Dec

    A glider crashed on a hillside in an inaccessible part of the Downhill Gliding site near Colrain and the pilot was seriously injured. The main rescue party was unable to approach nearer to the wreck than a point 50ftet above it. An attempt was made to reach the pilot with ropes but the tackle broke and the rescuer fell 30ftet to a ledge below, which was only a few feet from the edge of a precipice on the one side and a waterfall on the other. Although fully aware of this accident and of the dangers involved in climbing the chat night, Patrick Corr without hesitation, volunteered to be lowered to the rescue of the two men. He showed courage without thought for himself, well knowing that the rope might not hold. The rope broke and Corr fell to a ledge washed by the waterfall where he was stranded until the following morning.

    Cadet R A GLASS +
     
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