Spitfire L1094 – Lost 4 Nov 1940

Missing McGregor

I probably have all the info you require T40.

Anon – I can now add a little more detail regarding Sgt H B McGregor. In fact, he was buried at Larkhall Cemetery on 17 December 1940 but there is an entry that states further remains were buried on 30 August 1952. Consequently, he was not “missing” as such and the previous accounts that have circulated suggesting he was not found and recovered until 1952 are a little misleading it seems. The background to the 1952 RAF recovery therefore is still shrouded in a little mystery.

Spitfire L1094 excavation

I forgot to add that we also excavated L1094 – or what little remained of it. The ground was embedded with large boulders and the engine and propeller bounced back out of the crater in the crash They were then on the surface so they were recovered during the clean-up in 1940.
We found the smashed front of the engine and some other bits below the ash crater apparent during the dig. There were quite a few other parts above this, in quite good, though bent, condition. It appears that this was the scattered surface wreckage thrown into the hole afterwards.
Apparently a trailer-load of earth was tipped in too to restore the original level.
A nice find was one of the rudder pedals with “Supermarine” on it and part of the pilot’s seat support structure. The whole lot was pretty smashed up and corroded though. These parts are being restored almost as we speak at the RAF Millom Museum for a forthcoming display.
And (as if the above wasn’t enough!) we also located the remains of a fourth 610 Spit lost in the same period. It was R6891 being flown by JEI Grey who baled out too low and was killed (another instance of lost control), 19 Nov 1940.
The aircraft hit the ground at high speed in a fairly flat attitude so didn’t penetrate much but we found the pilot’s head armour, part of the gun sight, the front off the radio set, a wing tip and all sorts of other small parts.
This aircraft was a Battle of Britain veteran (with 610) and it was a very special aircraft due to the fact that it was flown by Sgt. Ronnie Fairfax “The Pied Piper” Hamlyn. It was in this aircraft that Hamlyn succeeded in shootong down 5 enemy aircraft in one day – a first for the RAF up to that time – and certainly for the squadron.
If you have, or can get, a copy of Peter Haining’s book The Spitfire Log, there is Hamlyn’s account of his action written by himself. I am led to believe that this was also broadcast on BBC radio during the BoB as a morale booster.
This Spitfire crashed not too far away from Edlingham (with a d not a g)- how’s that for confusing matters!

I’ll shut up now.

Thank you very much for that clarifaction.

I must say that what I had thus far discoverved had somewhat confused and puzzled me and I realised that something was amiss between what I knew and what Robert had helpfully posted. I was awaiting a trip to NA to hopefully unravel things as what I had turned up from local burial records rather confused the issue – to say the least!!

A fascinating story by any standards. I had seen the restored cockpit at Newark a few years ago without imagining that I would subsequently have more than a passing interest in it.

Spitfire crashes – including L1094

Someone’s post script states that the truth usually lies somewhere between various accounts or opinions and this thread is no exception.
The facts of the matter regarding L1094 are:
Spitfire L1094, with Sgt IMK Miller at the controls, dived into the ground just outside Eglingham, Northumberland on 4 Nov 1940. Miller was killed.
The site lies just north of the road into Eglingham about 1/2 mile from the village. It is on ploughed ground on a gently sloping hillside and the wreckage burnt for 3 days. It appeared that Sgt Miller lost control during aerobatics practice and there were no other aircraft involved. He is buried at Thame, Oxfordshire.
A mid-air collision did occur and that was between Spitfires P9451, flown by Sgt HB McGregor (under training) and X4649 flown by P/O AR Ross (instructor). It appears that McGregor cut the tail from Ross’s aircraft, Ross bailing out successfully but McGregor, probably due to his inexperience, failed to get out and was killed. It is possible, however, that McGregor could have been incapacitated. He is buried at larkhall Cemetery, Lanarks.
P9451 came down in marshy ground adjacent to the Kimmer Lough at Bannamoor less than half a mile from Miller’s aircraft. Ross’s aircraft came down, probably tumbling or in a flat spin, on the other side of the hill to the south of Kimmer Lough.
The date of the collision was 11 Dec 1940 and all three aircraft were on the strength of 610 (County of Chester) Auxiliary squadron who were on rest at Acklington at the time. They had fought in the Battle of Britain that summer and had moved north at the beginning of September to rest and to train new pilots sent to the squadron.
It is (was) inevitable that some confusion would arise when an account was written of the losses in that area during the war, especially with the dates being close together and all three aircraft flying with the same sqaudron.
The comment about an excavation is also true; The autumn of 1940 was very wet and the crash site, being close to the Lough, lay virtually under water and it was almost impossible to recover either McGregor or his aircraft. 610 were sent back into the war proper soon after the crashes and the site was forgotten. A curious airman from RAF Ouston looked for the “rumoured Spitfire crash site” in the early fifties and found a 0.303 Browning sticking out of the ground along with other wreckage. He told his CO, Sqn Ldr RT Bainbridge, of his discovery and he then informed the CO at Acklington, Wg Cdr Kean. AFC. who, it is said, “was not best pleased”.
It was found, on checking the records, that neither McGregor’s aircraft nor his body had been recovered and this took place in 1952, the aircraft being recovered only up to the cockpit in order to reach McGregor’s remains, the rest being left in the ground. P9451 had spent all its operational life with 610 being issued to them late in May 1940. It was the aircraft in which John Ellis achieved his first aerial victories over the Dunkirk beaches. It was Ellis who was the squadron’s CO when they were at Acklington.
The remains of the cockpit, the propeller and Merlin III engine were recovered during 2000 and the “restored” cockpit was displayed at Newark Cockpitfest four years ago (see Cockpitclub website for picture) and is now on display, together with the engine and prop, at the RAF Millom Museum, Haverigg, Cumbria.
As for X4649, it is said that an ATC unit from the north east recovered a complete engine and prop near to the surface of the shallow crater and this lay in the grounds of a local hall before finally disappearing, probably for scrap.

L1094 Built at the Supermarine factory as part of a batch of 97 aircraft in contract B527113/36. First flew on 2nd September 1939 and delivered to 65Sqn at Hornchurch four days later. Aircraft suffered damage during operations on 8th August 1940 and damaged again by a Bf109 on the 22nd.

Transferred to 610Sqn at Acklington on 27th October 1940, but dived into the ground eight days later at Eglingham, Northumberland during an aerobatics practice killing the pilot. The aircraft was struck off charge on 12th November 1940

Sgt. Miller : Pilot : Killed

Robert

Thank you very much indeed for your assistance. Most grateful.

Andy

Hi Andy,
According to Derek Waltons ‘Northumberland Aviation Diary’: Spitfire L1094 was flown by Sgt I.M.K Miller on a practice flight from Acklington. the pilot lost control, no mid-air collision, and crashed into boggy ground near Eglingham. not Edlingham which is quite a few miles south.
A footnote states that: ‘At the request of his parents the RAF revisited the site in the 1950s to recover the remains of the pilot.’

Best Wishes.
Robert.