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Forster, Kenneth ()

Killed in Flying Accident 1943-December-21

Male Head

Birth Date: unkown date (age unknown)

Service
RAFVR
Unit
1679 HCU- Heavy Conversion Unit
Rank
Marshal
Air Chief MarshalA/C/M
Air MarshalA/M
Air Vice MarshalA/V/M
Air CommodoreA/C
Group CaptainG/C
Wing CommanderW/C
Squadron LeaderS/L
Flight LieutenantF/L
Flying OfficerF/O
Pilot OfficerP/O
Warrant Officer 1st ClassWO1
Warrant Officer 2nd ClassWO2
Flight SergeantFS
SergeantSGT
CorporalCPL
Senior AircraftmanSAC
Leading AircraftmanLAC
Aircraftman 1st ClassAC1
Aircraftman 2nd ClassAC2
Position
Flight Engineer
Service Numbers
1581900

Lancaster Mk.II DS615

Conversion 1943-December-21 to 1943-December-21

1679 (B) HCU (RCAF) Wombleton

On 1943-12-21, Squadron Leader A. Ross Dawson, Chief Technical Officer at Wombleton, wrote in his diary:

"One of 1679's Lancasters, DS521 [sic] got closed off our circuit last night due to bad weather & was diverted to Topcliffe. Here he overshot & hit the tail end of a Halifax parked on a dispersal. It tore the tail right off & the Lanc turned end-over-end & stopping flat on its back with its wheels in the air & caught fire burning up completely. Three of the boys got out alive miraculously but the other three were lost."

Museum Diary of A Ross Dawson, courtesy CWM

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Burial
Google MapStoke-On-Trent (Hartshill) Cem
Grave 9232

Lancaster DS615

Avro Lancaster

Avro Lancaster Mk. X RCAF Serial FM 213
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirling, all three aircraft being four-engined heavy bombers adopted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the same wartime era.

The Lancaster has its origins in the twin-engine Avro Manchester which had been developed during the late 1930s in response to the Air Ministry Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use". Originally developed as an evolution of the Manchester (which had proved troublesome in service and was retired in 1942), the Lancaster was designed by Roy Chadwick and powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlins and in one version, Bristol Hercules engines. It first saw service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942 and as the strategic bombing offensive over Europe gathered momentum, it was the main aircraft for the night-time bombing campaigns that followed. As increasing numbers of the type were produced, it became the principal heavy bomber used by the RAF, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and squadrons from other Commonwealth and European countries serving within the RAF, overshadowing the Halifax and Stirling. Wikipedia

YouTube Lancaster Bomber

Wkikpedia Wikipedia

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

last update: 2021-09-18 14:32:33

Lancaster Mk.II DS615

KO-N; Originally with No. 115 Sqn (KO-N). Later with No. 1679 Heavy Conversion Unit, 6 Group, when it collided with Halifax DT 548 while landing at Topcliffe on 21 December 1943. 3 Canadians were killed in the crash.

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