The following is taken from “Avro Shackleton” by John Chartres.
11 January 1955: Mk 2s WG531 and WL743 of No.42 Squadron. Eighteen killed, no survivors.
In this, the most catastrophic of all the Shackleton accidents, the two aircraft left St. Eval at 10.14 and 10.20hrs respectively to carry out a 15 hour patrol and search exercise to the south of the Fastnet Rock off Southern Ireland.
The first aircraft off, captained by F/O. George Board was 14 ninutes late due to reasons beyond his control and the second (P/O. Woods) left early, thus reducing the normal half-hour separation time to six minutes. This factor tended to lend credence to the inevitable theory that the two aircraft were lost in a collision, possibly following each other in a ‘creeping line ahead’ search pattern or by practising homing in on one another.
The CO of 42 Squadron at the time, S/L. Norman Wilson was never entirely convinced by the collision theory finally recorded as the least improbable, particularly as radio messages were received indicating that the two captains had adjusted their separation and that up to 20.00hrs that night were flying at the prescribed 85 miles distance fron one another.
In the event all contact was lost from 20.58hrs when a ground radio operator attempted to call P/O. Woods with a barometric pressure reading over his exercise area which he had requested earlier. There was no reply from him and neither aircraft made their scheduled 21.00 nor 22.00hrs reports. In spite of an enormous search operation involving other Shackletons, Lancasters, Sunderlands and many smaller aircraft as well as surface ships no trace was found of either aircraft until more than 11 years later when the starboard outer engine of P/O. Woods aircraft was trawled up off the southwest Irish coast, about 75 miles north of the assumed collision point.
Regards
Peter Clare
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