01 February 1945 511Sqn York I MW116 Off Lampedusa Island The aircraft crashed into the sea and was destroyed during an attempted ditching in position 35 degrees 30 North/12 degrees 35 East (off Lampedusa Island) at 1934 hours GMT. This aircraft was one of the support aircraft carrying staff and other personnel involved in the Yalta Conference. There were a series of errors in navigation, the Met forecasts obtained by the wireless operator were out of date and the crew did not obtain any reliable radio bearings to allow them to reach Malta. The aircraft circled over Lampedusa for over an hour and it seems there was some confusion about whether they thought they were at Malta and could not pinpoint their position. Fatalities Flight Sergeant Alfred Claude Jack WALKER 21 Flight Engineer Flying Officer Arthur APPLEBY 24 Air Gunner Warrant Officer William WRIGHT 25 Wireless Operator Leading Aircraftman John CHICKEN 36 Lieutenant Colonel Ivor Stuart Huntly HOOPER 37 West Yorkshire Regiment Lieutenant Colonel Wilfred George NEWEY DSO TD Captain Albany Kennett CHARLESWORTH 52 MC Royal Armoured Corps Captain William Henry FINCH 55 MBE General List Group Captain Philip Stuart JACKSON-TAYLOR Mr Armine Roderick DEW 38 MVO First Secretary Foreign Office Mr Peter Noel LOXLEY 39 First Secretary Foreign Office Mr John CHAPLIN 34 Second Secretary Foreign Office Captain Robert MacDonald GUTHRIE 48 RM Kings Messenger Inspector Harry Joseph BATTLEY 36 Special Branch Miss Patricia Maxwell SULLIVAN 23 Foreign Office Details - 'Though Without Anger' - Colin Cummings
