On the 22nd of August 1941 the crew of this aircraft was carrying out a navigation exercise, they took off from Millom and headed east, using turning points of Sedbergh, Skipton and Barnard Castle they were heading back west to base but had already encountered bad weather conditions. There was thick fog with visibility down to 50 yards. The aircraft flew into high ground on this last leg of the flight, sadly all four airmen on board were killed. The authorising officer was criticised for allowing the flight to go ahead when the weather conditions were predicted.
Pilot - Sgt Wladyslaw Wasilewski PAF. Buried Millom.
U/T Obs - LAC William G Yeo RAF, Buried Wallasley, Cheshire.
U/T Obs - LAC Humphrey W J H Vernon RAF. Buried Millom.
Pass - Lt Lionel D Hall RA. Buried Crantoc, Cornwall.
Sgt Wasilewski had trained at 18 OTU and at the time of the crash had 963 solo flying hours of which 23 were on Bothas.
Lt Hall was a RA officer attached to the RAF.
LAC Vernon's grave at Haverigg Cemetery.
I have yet to visit the crash site.