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25 November 1944 Lancaster Mk I - PD293 KO-O |
Lost without trace.
Source: 115 Squadron Roll of Honour by D. Bruce, W. R. Chorley, J. G. J. de Haan - Aircrew Remembered.
ORB. 25th Nov. 1944. NON-OPERATIONAL.
Four aircraft carried out H2S Exercises. One aircraft aircraft G.H. Bombing and one aircraft Air Test.
12.10 F/S. W. D. CREBBIN (Capt/Pilot) and under mentioned crew took off on an H2S Training flight,
from which they failed to return - no news being received.
H2S was the first airborne, ground scanning radar system. It was developed in Britain in World war II for
the RAF and was used in various RAF bomber aircraft from 1943 to the 1990s.
It was designed to identify targets on the ground for night and all-weather bombing.
Crebbin William Donald "Peter" - Pilot
P/O - Service No 188647
Age: 20
RAFVR
Son of Frank Crebbin, and of Catherine Elizabeth Crebbin,
of Port St. Mary, Isle of Man.
Runnymede Memorial - panel 210
Source: CWGC - photo Memories of RAF Witchford
His brother F/O. Nav/WOP 136385 Alan Francis CREBBIN.
177 Squadron RAFVR died 8th May 1944, aged 22. Source.
Parkin John Edmund - FE
Sgt - Service No 1678439
Age: 22
RAFVR
Son of John Edwin and Lily Parkin, of Sheffield.
Runnymede Memorial - panel 235
Source: CWGC.
Hooper Harry Donald - Nav
F/S - Service No R191599
Age:
RCAF
Son of Harry Robert Hooper, and of Margaret Hooper,
of London, Ontario, Canada.
Runnymede Memorial - panel 254
Source: CWGC - photo: Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Tragheim Edward Alfred - WOP
F/O - Service No 160872
Age: 30 - °1914
RAFVR
Son of Alfred Tragheim and Elsie May Giles.
Husband of x1944 Christina Tulloch MacKenzie Tragheim, of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Runnymede Memorial - panel 209
Mariage photo Aircrew Remembered
Source: CWGC - info The Tragheim Family
Thompson Frank - BA
F/S - Service No 652570*
Age: 29 - born December 5th 1914.*
RAF
Son of William and Elizabeth Thompson of Kilnhurst, South Yorkshire.
Runnymede Memorial - panel 222
Source: info via Peter Thompson* it should read 652570 and not 652750.
His service number is also listed incorrectly on the Runnymede Memorial registers.
I have contacted them to see if this can be corrected. - CWGC - photo thanks to Richard Thompson.
Rotherham Technical College.
He left work at Tinsley Park Colliery a month before war broke out to join up. He initially trained as a technician and served on
ground staff as an instrument repairer. In 1942 he trained in South Africa as aircrew and returned to the UK in February 1944.
In April he married Pearl Eileen Martell in Whittlesey.
Frank joined 115 Squadron at RAF Witchford in October. He was now a qualified Air Bomber with the rank of Flight Sergeant.
He completed at three bombing missions over Germany before he was lost on the 26th Nov 1944.
On Sunday 26th Nov 1944, 115 Squadron Avro Lancaster Mk 1 PD293 (KO-O) took off from RAF Witchford at 12:10 hrs.
It was a special navigational H2S training sortie. The flight plan was Witchford to Bull Point (North Devon), then to Worms Head
(Glamorgan) and then to Lincoln before returning to base.
At 13:36 hrs a report was received from a Royal Observer Corps post that a Lancaster aircraft had dived into the sea some
four or five miles south of St Athan, Sout Wales.
Air Sea Rescue and Naval ships searched the area but no trace of the crew could be found. Wreckage recovered in the vicinity of
the crash was consistent with a Lancaster. As no other Lancasters were reported overdue on this date it is believed the aircraft seen
to crash was PD293. In addition, if the pilot was flying as instructed, it would have been in this area at approximately 13:35 hrs.
F/S Frank Thompson's record.
Many thanks, Peter Thompson.
McKinnon Ian - MUG
F/S - Service No R2296A
Age: 27
RCAF
Son of John and Valentine McKinnon,
of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Runnymede Memorial - panel 255
Source: CWGC - Photo: Canadian virtual war memorial.
Blenkinsop Mathew - RG
Sgt - Service No 1595390
Age: 22
RAFVR
Son of Matthew and Margaret Ann Blenkinsop, of Sunderland, Co. Durham.
Runnymede Memorial - panel 225
Source: CWGC.