I have been asked for a few details regarding this crash in Northern Ireland in February 1942. 18 February 1942. No.120 Squadron. Liberator I. AM925 X/120 Duty: Anti-submarine patrol. On this day Liberator I AM925 X/120 took off from RAF Nutts Corner and crashed almost at once, the tail breaking off, the aircraft was completely burnt out. Of the crew, F/O. Bannister, Sgt. Wakefield, P/O. Densham, Sgt. Wilson, Sgt. Mines and Sgt. Waite were injured. P/O. Fuller, Sgt. Welford and Sgt. Middleton were killed. P/O. Densham died of his injuries on 20 February. The Liberator had struck a radio mast situated in a field at the end of the east/west runway, leaving the tail behind. The remainder of the aircraft careered across three small fields and came to a rest almost opposite the airfield ‘Communal Site’ on the Belfast road and burst into flames. AM925 was airborne for some 300 yards before crashing. The Squadron ORB states – Time Up 0450 hrs Time Down 0452 hrs. The Court of Inquiry decided that the cause was the Captains failure to employ 15 degrees of flap when taking off, but not careless. It was later established that the Liberator was grossly over loaded. Because of his actions relating to the rescue of P/O. Densham from the burning aircraft, Sgt. John Felix Waite RAFVR was awarded the George Medal.
Hi Peter, Many thanks for the info on AM925, I knew i had some papers on 120Sq somewhere that a friend of mine wrote many years back for a local magazine, i've attached them as links below on my "flickr" account, they can be downloaded as individual files, I'm sure they may be of some interest =) cheers Will
Hi Will, Many thanks for info, much of which I already have, but not all. I see that the crash landing of AM910 on 6 November 1941 is mentioned in the text, S/L. Gates was the Captain of the aircraft and my father the Flight Engineer. If you have any more such as this I'd be pleased to see it. Regards Peter
Will Tried to send a PM but was not able to do so. the message follws........ "Thanks for the photos, I've not seen the estimated position of the crash of AM925 before in that format, just a position on a map, which if you are interested I can scan. I note that Ernie Cromie's name appears at the top of the text posted on the forum, I was talking on the phone to Ernie at the latter part of last year, I'd phoned him to tell him of the passing of a mutual friend by the name of Peter White. I wondered if you were acquainted with Peter? he was a fellow 120 Squadron and Liberator researcher. Tell me to mind my own business if you like, but I also wondered what your interest was in 120 Squadron, mine stems from the fact that my father was on the squadron when he was killed in August 1942. I started to research his loss and the interest escalated from there". Regards Peter.
Hi Peter, ahh no worries any time =), yes that would be great if you could send me the location of the site on the map - the images i sent where just a guess on my part, ooh yes Ernie, a very decent fella i used to correspond with him a lot when the aviation museum was active at Langford Lodge since its so close to me, but I havent spoke to him in a while ill have to drop him an email. Peter White - the name does ring a bell i think in conversation before but its hard to remember, I have one or two bits of info that may be of interest i came across before, i will scan and post up here =), I have pretty much been interested in US Army Air Force losses in Northern Ireland, of which ive catalogued up most crash reports and excavated a number of important sights, aswell as doing thorough background research on the crews involved, I thought it was about time to start looking into the RAF side of things, since 3 airfields are situated around my town I thought it was about time i started researching RAF losses and the crews involved, and as a fellow aviator i think its improtant that these fellas are not forgotten =). Its astonoshing how many accidents occured between these 3 airfields in such a small ammount of time, My interest in the subject stems from my Grandmother who witnessed the loss of an American P-38 on the outskirts of my town, from there the fascination grew =) cheers Will
Will, As promised copy of the map giving the location of the AM925 crash. No idea where I obtained it as its been in my position for some years. I couldn't scan all the map as its in A3 size. Seems the location you photographed is pretty close to the one shown. Regards Peter.
I was looking around part of the old Nutts Corner site last week and located 2 quite large Air Raid Shelters to the left of what I believe is Dundesert Road. There is a small concrete bridge which was constructed as part of the complex and a large concrete block, similar to one that would perhaps be tethered to a radio mast cable. On looking at the aerial photograph of the Airfield this area is at the top of the piccie. About a third of the way across there is a shamrock shape with 3 circular paths and at the bottom right of the shamrock stem is the area I refer to. Would there have been a radio station here? Does anyone have a plan of the airfield. I find this really interesting and have a selection of pictures on my website. Hope you can help.
It is a few years since I have been walking on the Nutts Corner site but it is hard not to think of the WW2 activity when driving across it to get to Aldergrove or when landing / taking off from Aldergrove. Enjoyed the material gents, thank you.
oh, Nutts Corner. Been a wee while since i lasted wandered around the sunday market One of my urbex explores Archived Report - RAF Nutts Corner, NI -23 Oct 07 - UK Urban Exploration Forums .
I have to agree with James regarding the good reading material posted. On looking at the aerial view of the airfield, there appears to be, judging by the wing shape, a DC3/Dakota parked on the apron to the bottom right. Regards Tom
Hi. Just wondering is this site still active. I was just searching the history of nuttscorner airfield and the plane crashes in the area. I live in nuttscorner and my grannie and granda + my dad have told me about the plane crashes. They remember the day the Vickers viking crashed. It came in low over the top of my grannies house for landing and crashed just the other side of the road. But when reading this about the plane that crashed on take of, on this map marking the crash site is the same site my grannie said the Vickers viking crashed. It crashed in my great uncles field just across the road from my house. Would love more info on it as I'm trying to learn more about the history of nuttscorner. Thanks.
