More detailed info here:
PB 812 – What really happened on 10 February 1945?
On Saturday, 10 February 1945, 460 Squadron had no operations and Lancaster PB812 undertook a triangular navigational exercise flight with 2 legs southward from Binbrook in Lincolnshire and the third leg north back towards the base.
Coming back on the 3rd and last leg north, the plane crashed catastrophically at 3:45pm next to the old Caythorpe railway station and just east of Caythorpe village. A pilot who had just taken off from Cranwell said he saw the aircraft dive almost vertically towards the west with flames and smoke coming from both wings. The plane hit the ground with all engines running and all six on-board were killed. The met report stated that the weather was rainy with strong winds, and a cloud base of 2000-2500 feet. The six were buried in the RAF cemetery at Cambridge on 15 February 1945.
The crew comprised F/Sgt R (Dick) Miller (pilot), F/O Jeff Downing (navigator), F/Sgt Rhod Pope (wireless operator), F/Sgt Graeme Dockery (air gunner), F/Sgt Anthony (Tony) Robinson (air gunner) (all being RAAF) and F/Sgt Freddie Nesbit-Bell (flight engineer) RAF.
Missing from the crew that day was the bomb aimer, F/Sgt Arnold (George) Kloeden RAAF. He had been sick in hospital and was discharged on the 10th February but arrived at the airfield a few minutes too late to board the plane. George died in 2003.
In the only extracts from the Court inquiry the writer has been able to locate, the Court concluded that:
• The aircraft was on fire before it hit the ground, based on the testimony of a warrant officer from Signals Squadron No 1 Radio School Cranwell who was the other pilot flying at the time,
• While the Court didn’t come to any definite conclusion regarding the cause of the crash, it referred to an earlier report by a previous pilot of PB 812 that the automatic pilot had caused the plane to go into a sudden and violent vertical dive which the pilot was able to correct,
• Relevantly, the previous pilot confirmed that the auto pilot had been repaired and had given no trouble for a further 4 flights,
• Although the Court found that there was insufficient evidence to blame an unserviceable autopilot, it found the pilot should have been able to disengage a malfunctioning autopilot, as had been done on previous occasions in other planes. Interestingly, the Court recommended training in automatic pilots at Heavy Conversion Units should be encouraged to the “maximum degree”.
69 years have passed since this event occurred. Remarkably some pieces of Lancaster PB812 were excavated in the 1970s by the Lincolnshire Aircraft Recovery Group and are held at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre at RAF East Kirby.
The Court’s conclusions are puzzling, being at variance with the testimony of an eyewitness to the accident, who is still alive. This witness was only recently located following an article on the crash in a local newspaper in February of this year. The writer has spoken to the eyewitness who was 17 at the time and who was in the presence of 2 friends of similar age. These persons were waiting for a bus when they saw PB 812 diving vertically. They fully expected the plane to come out of the dive, as they had witnessed such manoeuvres several times before. They were shocked to see the plane crash into the ground, and are adamant it was not on fire. The eyewitness also noted that there was no rain and no winds to speak of with very few clouds.
If the testimony of the 17-year-old eyewitness (now 87) is to be preferred, then the question remains as to whether the crash was in fact attributable to a faulty autopilot. This also begs the question as to whether the Court’s conclusions may have ben due to a desire at the time to ensure morale was maintained to avoid blame being sheeted home to equipment failures, especially when the equipment was the much loved and respected Lancaster.
Any input from readers as to their experiences with Lancaster auto pilot malfunctions, or unexpected vertical dives, would be appreciated. It would also be appreciated if readers knew any of the crew of PB 812.
Sign In
