Thanks. I don’t have a copy of the “HCU Losses” at hand at the moment. However, from what I have found out so far, most remains of the aeroplane with bodies of most crew members were not found until 1962. Would any crash report be filed by the RAF at that time?
Like I said, I can’t consult “HCU Losses” at the moment. Would you care to check what serial Chorley lists with that crew (if any?).
Ok, the serial number and crew in Chorley’s HCU losses for this aircraft are as follows:
Halifax II JN967, Sgt L Milewski PAF, Sgt S Manek PAF, Sgt S Babiacki PAF, P/O M E Wisniewski PAF, Sgt F Piwoda PAF, Sgt M Kozlowski PAF, Sgt J Rzetelny PAF.
The crew were all buried at Newark-on-Trent Cemetery.
The Chorley entry also says that 8 minutes after take-off, after climbing to 3,000 feet, the bomber crashed in flames……… It was ascertained that one of the starboard engines had caught fire and, it is thought, the Graviner system was operated before the propeller had been fully feathered.
It would seem to me that Chorley has obtained that information from some sort of report into the loss. The detail suggests to me that it was a report written soon after the loss (in 1944) rather than one written in 1962. Having looked on a map to establish where the aircraft crashed, I personally find it hard to believe that the wreckage and bodies were not discovered until 1962. What is perhaps more likely is that additional wreckage was discovered in 1962 and possibly some human remains. Due to the destructive nature of aviation crashes it was not always possible to fully recover all bodies complete.
A call to the register of deaths responsible for Newark-on-Trent Cemetery should give you the exact dates that the crew were buried.
As to your question about whether a report would have been made in 1962; if the RAF/MOD were involved then most likely.
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