A long way from Plymouth harbour (previous post) but I recently had a go at a Sabre engined Firebrand, DK379, at the end of Boscombe Down runway. Not the most spectacular of digs but a pilot with an interesting history. FMA Torrens Spence was CO of the Naval Test Squadron at the A and AEE. He had previously flown a Swordfish at Taranto and gained a part share in damaging the Battleship Littorio and later damaging the cruiser Pola. He’d also crashed an Albacore on Crete and force landed a propellerless Barracuda near Stone Henge amongst other things. DK379 was lost during torpedo trials and I was lucky to have a letter from the pilot describing the accident and his escape.
Despite being abandoned in a high speed dive the plane appears to have spun in, burned badly and been thoroughly recovered at the time. Nothing penetrated the hard chalk more than about three feet and most of what did had long reduced to Daz like corrosion. The biggest lumps were the internals from the distrubutor and ignition harness. A fragment of the gunsight came out (Rocketeer’s sandals behind) and cleaning the pieces off later revealed a complete RPM gauge. Some of it will be returning to Boscombe Down in due course.
There are several mystery items to be identified if anyone knows the inards of the Firebrand.
By: mark_pilkington - 31st August 2008 at 23:27
As far as I recall, DK379 was lost when the tail of the torpedo came off and struck the tail of the aircraft. My reports indicate recovery of wreckage, including engine from 8ft, two weeks after the crash with wreckage to BDSR whatever that is/was!
BDSR? = Boscombe Down Salvage & Recovery Unit?
Regards
Mark Pilkington
By: ian_ - 31st August 2008 at 22:34
Thanks Andy, accident investigation from the horse’s mouth! there was very little scatter across the field (some interesting fossils though) but it was probably easily picked up at the time. Prop at such a distance suggests it wasn’t going absolotely straight down. We must have picked up was thrown back when tidying up the field. You don’t have the attd photo by any chance?
By: bms44 - 31st August 2008 at 11:29
The report also calls him Torrens-Spens, but that could be a typo.
Is this the gentleman in question? MICHAEL TORRENS-SPENCE. If so, as you can see from the attached url. sadly, no longer with us, but what a distinguished career he had, and to quote from James Michener’s novel ‘The Bridges of Toko-ri’ ,the closing line from the film – “Where do we get such men?”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1361880/Michael-Torrens-Spence.html
Brian S.
By: Arabella-Cox - 31st August 2008 at 09:49
Interesting stuff! Yes, tail came off torpedo and struck the aircraft’s tail according to the pilot (letter via Mr S Parry) and the late and lamented Sturtivant’s FAA losses. The eight feet depth is interesting. There wasn’t a trace beyond four feet, with Forster or detectors and the chalk looked undisturbed. Any chance of the report? Is it lurking the Avia files or elsewhere? Thanks for the info. And Tony, there needs to be something for the ladies on this forum!
As far as I know it is not in the Avia files, although quite a lot of interesting accident reports are there.
The report also calls him Torrens-Spens, but that could be a typo.
“Depth of wreckage filled crater estimated at 8ft in hard ground. Debris field of widely scattered material. Recovery of torpedo parts priority for examination. Propellor blades and hub parts 250yds NE of main impact point. Tail parts of airframe 3 miles SSW of crash. Engine in crater. Badly smashed. Serious fire ensued and mostly ash and debris remaining of airframe. Not possible to ascertain throttle or other control settings. Site photographed (attd) for compensation assessment (also to Damage Officer) and board. No value in wreckage save for torpedo parts. Remainder to B.D. S/R”
By: XN923 - 31st August 2008 at 09:27
Fascinating dig, keep us posted on progress won’t you?
By: ian_ - 30th August 2008 at 23:08
Interesting stuff! Yes, tail came off torpedo and struck the aircraft’s tail according to the pilot (letter via Mr S Parry) and the late and lamented Sturtivant’s FAA losses. The eight feet depth is interesting. There wasn’t a trace beyond four feet, with Forster or detectors and the chalk looked undisturbed. Any chance of the report? Is it lurking the Avia files or elsewhere? Thanks for the info. And Tony, there needs to be something for the ladies on this forum!
By: Arabella-Cox - 30th August 2008 at 21:01
As far as I recall, DK379 was lost when the tail of the torpedo came off and struck the tail of the aircraft. My reports indicate recovery of wreckage, including engine from 8ft, two weeks after the crash with wreckage to BDSR whatever that is/was!
By: Rocketeer - 30th August 2008 at 20:29
Oh my gosh Ian… my legs have ruined another perfectly good photo!
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August 29, 2008 at 11:19 pm