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Date: |
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Description: | PRN 65328
On the afternoon of 4 February 1943, Lancaster ED496 of 9 Squadron took off from Waddington on a test-flight and to make a series of practice circuits, practising landing and taking-off and testing the equipment involved in those manoeuvres. ‘Weather conditions were fine at the time.’ The pilot was Sergeant Charles Richard Land and he had four crew members with him. At about 16.00 hours the aircraft dived into the ground with the engines on, there was an explosion and the wreckage caught fire. There were no survivors. The impact occurred near the eastern boundary of a field south-west of Scopwick Station in the former parish of Kirkby Green. The field is low-lying peaty soil and close to a watercourse, and under such large momentum the stricken aircraft buried itself deeply. Attempts were made at the time to dig out the engines and the airframe and to recover the bodies of the crew but these attempts were unsuccessful. The cause of the crash was not established despite an enquiry by the Air Investigations Branch of the RAF.
The pilot's body was thrown clear in the crash but the search for the other members of the crew had to be abandoned. They are buried at the site of the accident and a cross has been erected. {1} | Subjects: | General Archaeology | Temporal: | 1943 | Source: | Lincolnshire County Council | Identifier: | http://www.lincstothepast.com/Records/Re... | Go to resource |
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