This is an old thread….
But still very much alive with interest in the Wednesfield area.
An update….On 17 May 2015 myself and Ivan carpenter joined approx 50 other people at the crash site to take part in a church service to remember ‘our’ fallen crew men. Again the matter was covered by the Express & Star:
http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2015/05/18/lancaster-air-crash-crew-remembered/
My own research with several eye witnesses to the crash has revealed that RF124 could have been on it’s final few minutes of flight from almost all directions of the compass. One witness states he also saw a crew member on the wing before it crashed. (Not impossible as we know from Sergeant Norman Jackson, 106 Squadron, RAFVR who won the VC for doing a similar thing)
I now have a copy of the RAF investigation report that simply states that RF124 was out of control in an inverted vertical dive before hitting the ground. East Kirby ground crew also stated that the pilot (Hall) and the F/engineer (O’Donnell) had talked about swapping seats once the training flight was underway.
So If we use common sense, the RAF explanation seems to be more accurate in as much as if the plane had been flying at low level and had crash landed the airframe would not have been so severely damaged. RF124 would not have left a crater big enough to put a house in if it had belly flopped onto a road/field.
Much was made during talking after the memorial service about the plane being seen from different directions, one suggestion was that the crew had carried out a ‘U’ turn to try to land on the crash site (field) The facts would be that there would be no need for them to do this as the area was almost all fields so the crew could have continued on whatever heading they liked and still have attempted a belly landing. I also doubt very much if it would have been a wise move to attempt to make a tree top high turn in a Lancaster that is clearly ‘going down’
Perhaps the main item is that at last talks are being held over a permanent memorial near the crash scene and that these lads will not be forgotten by this and future generations…….We will remember them.
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