So it’s a little larger than it looks. I have a photo of me holding up this part from the Sea Otter which went ashore on Colonsay, but it was minus the axle and suspension parts.

Bomber Command Losses, Vol.5, 1944, p.368

Halifax III LK846 LK-R
F/O E W Fox
Sgt H Hodgson
P/O P Goldsmith
F/Sgt G F Howatson
F/Sgt F W Middleton, Injured
F/Sgt D J Johnson RCAF
Sgt L N Dey

“T/o 1818 Burn to attack a flying-bomb storage site. Outbound, became uncontrollable and was abandoned, crashing 1935 about 2 miles E from Beccles in Suffolk. F/S Middleton was taken to Southwold Hospital”

Target is given as Foret de Nieppe.

The primary source for information will be the No.578 Sqn ORB, downloadable from the National Archives, as well as the F-1180 from the RAF Museum.

So now we’re on to a British aircraft, late war Lancaster?

It is the same aircraft, comparing the recent photo with the party sitting on/around a piece of wreckage and one of the 1961 photos which shows a good amount of the background shows that the location is the same.

I have marked some features which are in both, the most unique is the trident shaped fissure in the rock marked A. Obviously the position of the camera is different so the two have slightly different views but they are close enough to compare.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]235383[/ATTACH]

If the Merlin item is from the Lake District I might be tempted to go for one of the Hurricanes on Slight Side. The damage to the remaining engine parts is bad enough to suggest that this item could belong to one of them. The engine from V6565 was smashed, the crank is bent with some connecting rods and pistons still in their liners, some other liners are scattered about and completely flat. The crank end bearing is at the site still in a big piece of engine casing. The crank from V7742 is straighter but there are still lots of very broken engine parts there.

Lancasters…….

These are the entries from the No.12 AGS ORB which relate to the loss of MS619:

May 6th 1944, “Aircraft Martinet MS.619 crashed into sea. The pilot 1585841 Sgt Wadmore is reported missing the Tow Target operator’s body was recovered. He was 1128561 L.A.C. Mynett.”

May 6th 1944, “1585841 Sgt V. Wadmore Pilot, and 1128561 L.A.C. Mynett S. Tow Target operator, crashed into the sea in Martinet MS.619. The body of L.A.C. Mynett was recovered and sent to England for burial.”

May 6th 1944, “An aircraft of this Unit crash landed into Strangford Lough a approx 12.00 hours. The body of the Tow Target Operator 1128561 LAC Mynett was recovered from the salvaged plane at approx 12.00 hours 7.4.44 and conveyed to R.A.F. Station, Bishops Court.”

June 10th 1944, “The body of 1585841 Sgt Wadmore recovered from Strangford Lough this am was the pilot of the aircraft which crash landed on 6.5.44.”

The unit’s Martinets probably didn’t have the code ED, there is reference to another Martinet as J.5 in June 1944, they also recorded a number of Ansons by a single letter and number.

The letters AVIA and BT relate to the National Archives catalogue. The file reference AVIA 5/## is where investigation reports written by the Accidents Investigation Branch (now Air Accidents Investigation Branch) are found. BT is Board of Trade, there are a fairly large number of post war BT files which are complete copies of accident investigations, mostly in BT 217 and BT 233. The BT files I have copies of contain a copy of RAF, AIB and manufacturers reports as well as inquests records, police and sometimes fire service reports as well as photographs, but they are all post war.