Edwinstowe air crash assistance request - 26th February 1944

The crew pictured in Nottinghamshire, Bill Taylor is third from the right.

Via Jane Bealby

By Howard Heeley

The Newark Air Museum is assisting Jane Bealby from Edwinstowe with research on a wartime aircraft training crash near Edwinstowe, Mansfield, which happened on 26th February 1944. 

The aircraft from 1661 HCU at nearby RAF Winthorpe (now home to the Newark Air Museum) was on a training flight.

Five airmen lost their lives in the crash and one survivor was taken to Mansfield General Hospital. We would like to appeal to anyone who might have been nursing at that time in Mansfield and who might remember an Australian airman being brought into the hospital.

As it was wartime, Jane is not sure which of the emergency services would have been called to the scene, but believe that the police, fire, ambulance service crews might have been informed. Other Civil Defence units might also have been involved such as the ARP and the Home Guard.

If anyone has any information regarding this crash could they please respond here, or via email to admin@newarkairmuseum.org