On Friday the 13th of August, 1943, thirteen men were killed when two aircraft collided over the village of Sway in the New Forest.
A Vickers Wellington of 407 Squadron (RCAF) left RAF Chivenor in Devon on an anti-submarine patrol. On returning to the English coastline, bad weather including fog meant it was diverted to land at Beaulieu Airfield in the New Forest.
A few hours later, the tired crew took off from RAF Beaulieu, and the Wellington was soon flying over the village of Sway to the west of the airfield, flying just below the clouds. Unbeknown to the crew they were now in the flight path of an RAF Halifax of 502 Squadron that had taken off from the nearby RAF Holmsley South airfield on a test flight.
The two aircraft collided, and both crashed on separate sites in the village of Sway. All 6 crew of the Wellington died, as did all 6 crew of the Halifax.
As if this wasn’t tragic enough, when the Halifax came down, it crashed onto the home of Peter Jenvey who lived in a railway coach converted into a caravan in a field. He was 68 and had moved from Southampton to the New Forest, as he thought it a safer place to be away from German bombing.
He was also killed, bringing the overall death toll to 13.
Wellington (MP622) - RCAF (Canadians)
F/L Beverley W. Pritchard
F/O Nicholas J. Tuchtie
F/O Harold M Tarver
F/S Alan A. Johnston
F/S Thomas Main
F/O Allison G. Tatton
Halifax (JB902) - RAF
W/O Francis W Brands
F/S Gerald W. Hawkes
F/S Edwin C. Hainsworth
F/S Henry L. H. Bainton
F/S Lawrence E. Burgess
F/S Leslie Fraser
Peter Jenvey (civilian on the ground in Sway)
You can read more on the following links
nfhwa.org/new-forest-worst-ai...
rafbeaulieu.co.uk/memory-of-w...
12 авг 2023
