RAF Tangmere, April 14/15th 1943

Good morning,

Does anyone have the Station ORB for this night. Would like to find out what Bomber Command aircraft diverted here on return from Stuttgart. Also hoping the Station Records Book may ID the code letter for a Wellington of 196 Squadron that crashed on take-off on the 15th. Any pointers very welcome.

Steve

 

Hi Steve,

According to Chorley it was a Wellington X, serial number He166, coded ZO_.

Landed at Tangmere following Stuttgart raid. As the bomber gained height an engine cut out and it dived into the ground 3 miles west of the airfield. All killed,

Regards,

Graeme

 

Thanks Graeme, but I already had that info. But appreciate the reply.

 

Purely out of interest, but I don't quite understand: did it divert to Tangmere and land, then crashed as it attempted to depart later; or did it crash on approach (in which case it cannot really be said to have landed)? I'm not being picky, just trying to work out what happened.

 

The crew diverted, and landed at Tangmere at 03:45hrs. I would presume, that the fog over its home base had cleared and the crew took off to return to their base at 08:00hrs.

Steve

 

Thank you.

 

You are very welcome.