Hi,
Can anyone confirm the parts below are from a Wellington?
I’m ‘studying’ a crash site near the village Vierlingsbeek in the south of Holland, were I assume the Wellington MKIII with s/n BJ674 has crashed on May 31st, 1942.
My father was aware of a crash site, as he was living quite near (±200 m) to it in WW2. Unfortunately after searching the internet, the most exact crash location for the BJ674 known up till now seems ‘westbank of river Maas’. I found more people who are interested in the precise location but no answers till so far.
As the plane I found has crashed in the woods, only very small pieces remain. The majority of parts was taken by the Germans directly after the crash according eye witnesses.
The most aluminum parts are in a (very) bad condition due to corrosion but as far as I can see, some parts can be linked to the geodetic construction of a Wellington, however I’m not sure if there were more planes during WW2 with the same construction?
[ATTACH=CONFIG]223036[/ATTACH]
Some parts do have an ID code but unfortunately not any with the prefix 285.
– T-coupling with following text: 6P/I46 MARK IVH (coding 6P not 100% sure). I saw pictures of the front landing gear were it seems such kind of couplings are also used (brake line?). As it is made out of copper or brass it might also be a fuel line.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]223037[/ATTACH]
– Part of lever for (adjusting) a steel cable wit coding: 1601/H9
– Aluminum strip with coding: 29………9 (picture not attached).
– Fuel cap (?), about 50 mm (2 “) in diameter and quite heavy.
– Turning knob with text ‘ON OFF’ and a bended arrow in between.
Any kind of help is much appreciated!
By: Hans1111 - 29th November 2013 at 17:29
The rubberized part is recognized as the part which is mounted at the top of the cylinder head of a Bristol Hercules. This engine was mounted in the MKIII.
Furthermore I found some more parts, also one with a part number (BW8 N4….. 2850 44…..). If understood well, this prefix 285 was (only?) used for Wellingtons.
By: Hans1111 - 20th November 2013 at 20:49
Some more geodetic parts.
Lowest part on the pictures is not a geodetic part but seems the fixed part of a control lever to me:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]223076[/ATTACH]
Furthermore found the following rubberized metal part (‘molded’ rubber with on the sides metal in it). On a few spots is thread applied in the metal. Dimensions as showed on picture approximately 250 x 250 mm:
Two small shafts (length ± 80 mm):
[ATTACH=CONFIG]223079[/ATTACH]
By: Hans1111 - 20th November 2013 at 20:12
Thanks for confirmation.
I was quite sure, the parts found must be from an English plane. On the hydraulic part is also the logo of an English crown. Furthermore I found lots of unused ammunition (0,303), all made in England and dated prior to the earlier mentioned crash of a Wellington somewhere in our area.
By: N.Wotherspoon - 19th November 2013 at 23:07
Knob is from an instrument panel dimmer switch – used on most RAF aircraft – fragments do indeed look like geodetic structure and pipe fittings also RAF.
By: Hans1111 - 19th November 2013 at 21:11
Thanks for quick reply Ian!
The other English plane crashed quite nearby was a Handley Page Halifax II. But the crash location of this Halifax was already known before. A Warwick or Wellesley are not crashed over here, which means that this must be BJ674.
Thanks again.
By: ian_ - 19th November 2013 at 20:58
Definitely Wellington, unlikely to be Warwick or Wellesley, the only other geodetic aircraft.
Sign In
November 19, 2013 at 8:53 pm