The Lancaster by an eye-witness

Regular readers of Audlem Online will recall several articles about the Lancaster which crashed near Audlem in 1943.

Through the good offices of Alma Lawrence, we have received a letter from Brian Yarwood who, as a schoolboy, was at home at Park Farm when the crash occurred.

What follows is his description...

The crash
"The plane must have approached from the Audlem side of Corbrook Court because it took away our telephone wires which went towards Hankelow – probably about 30/40 yards away from the house.

"It must have bounced in the small old semi-circular sandpit about 40 yards away from the main cattle gates into the farmyard.

"About 50 yards further on was a larger oblong old sandpit with a very substantial tree in its path. This must have swung the plane by 90 degrees so that it was deposited very neatly into the sandpit (there were two or three lovely damson trees at one end, that were frequently picked).

"As far as I know, there is no trace now of the sandpits. There was quite a chunk of metal embedded in the tree, probably still there when the farm was sold.

"We also had quite a few pieces of aircraft still in the Attics when I left.

Park Farm
I think the property was always shown on maps as ‘PARK FARM’ until the war years. It was about that time that my father started keeping registered British Friesians – all the cattle had to be named with the same prefix – he chose ‘Parkes……’, and maybe that had some connection.

Previous stories
Previous stories about the Lanacster crash appeared on Audlem Online:-

Lancaster crashes near Audlem – http://www.audlem.org/newsitem-1-1-7392.html

Lancaster crash – a postscript – http://www.audlem.org/newsitem-1-1-7421.html

Remaining Questions
What happened to  F/Sgt Jack Nancarrow when he went back to Austrralia after the war and did he leave any description of the event? This part of the story is being followed up by our Southern Hemisphere correspondent, based in Sydney, Australia.

....and are there any rusting bits of Lancaster still lying around at Parkes Farm?

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