There is quite a lot of info about the flying boat hulls at Greatbottom Flash and Bawdsey Ferry in this thread

https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/89291-bawdsey-ferry-pre-ww2-flying-boat-hulls?page=0

 According to GIFO G-AWSB was registered on 21/10/68 to John Richard Hawke who was better known as Jeff Hawke.
Many of the RAF Ansons which were sold off at that time landed up with “colourful” characters, some finding their way to Biafra.    

 Although it doesn’t relate to G-AWSB there is an old thread with some info about the Anson disposals here

https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/89894-biafran-anson?page=0

 This won’t help find the remains but it does explain what happened to the rest of the fuselage and wings 

http://www.ronandjimsmith.com/books/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/The-Story-Behind-the-Photograph-5.pdf

 A terrible accident. My condolences to the family and friends of everyone who lost their life in this tragedy.

Thank you for the link to the video which provides a very plausible, easily understood explanation of the likely reasons this happened. 

I didn’t automatically assume that Elvington would take the Beverley.

My post actually said 

 “Elvington said they declined because it was beyond their resources. That could well mean that they simply don’t have the money or manpower to undertake reassembly.
If the costs of reassembly were met by contributions they may change their minds”

 Having been involved with the Southend museum when I was younger I am well aware of the corrosion problems that are likely to be encountered with an aircarft that has been outside for so long. The Southend Beverley actually had a large fatigue crack in he fuselage just ahead of the tailplane caused by the wind blowing the fins around over the years and I was told by someone involved in the scrapping that there was massive corrosion in the main spar. The centre of the undercarriage bogies had also completely dissolved due to delamination of the casting and if viewed from above there was just an outside frame from the casting with the axles passing through it. It was a miracle that the bogies hadn’t collapsed completely.

 The corrosion on the Beverley and the CASA 2111 at Southend was attributed to salt air corrosion even though the museum was probably between 5 and 8 miles inland from the coast. Bearing in mind that XB259 has been kept on the coast for a long time it is likely that the corrosion is even worse than the Southend example unless the airframe has been treated with corrosion inhibitor over the years.

 I would love to see the Beverley saved and If there was a proper proposal to move the aircraft to somewhere that had the facilities and finances to undertake restoration and then display her I would gladly donate a few pounds as that is all I can afford. Realistically this is unlikely to happen and the loss of the engines has made the project even less attractive so the future doesn’t look great.  

 Mark – If I remember rightly you were involved in acquiring the surviving sections of the Southend Lincoln which was a prime example of a complete but neglected aeroplane that went through several owners and was gradually parted out for spares mainly because no one wanted a complete Avro Lincoln (particularly a much modified one with a Lancaster cockpit). Unfortunately for the aeroplane it was worth more as parts than it was as a complete airframe but hopefully the surviving sections will make a useful contribution to a restoration in Australia.      

Elvington said they declined because it was beyond their resources. That could well mean that they simply don’t have the money or manpower to undertake reassembly.
If the costs of reassembly were met by contributions they may change their minds BUT ideally the Beverley needs to be inside to prevent any further deterioration and I don’t know if Elvington (or any other museum) has the hangar space available for indoor display.  

There was a time when we had two Beverleys in preservation and a third outside the RAF Museum (which the museum didn’t own) and now the future for the sole survivor doesn’t look great.  

 Will be sorry to se Coventry disappear but glad to hear that WR963 will be saved as I had feared that we might lose another Shackleton to the scrappie simply because moving a large aircraft costs an awful lot of money. Best of luck with the move (when it happens) and I hope things work out well at Elvington.

It can’t be a good situation for Midland Air Museum either although they are well established and there are other museums who survive without being attached to an airfield so they should be ok.   

Thanks Sopwith and I suspect Avion Ancien has got it about right. The one positive thing about the lack of decent threads is that I no longer spend 2 or 3 hours a day on this forum, time which I should have been using to do other things.