Lancaster crashes near Audlem

The recent excellent article sent in by Judy of the ‘Soldier with two graves’ reminded me of some research I did quite a few years ago into a little known incident which occurred a couple of miles south of the village on the night of 2/3rd August 1943. It involved a Lancaster of 467 Sqn, Royal Australian Air Force, based at Bottesford, Leicestershire.

The pilot of the aircraft was Flight Sergeant Jack W. Nancarrow RAAF, from Western Australia, and his crew that night included :-

Sergeant T.F. Preston  – Flight Engineer

Flying Officer H.L. Fry  – Navigator

Sergeant W.S. Millar  – Wireless Operator

Sergeant W. Cullen  – Air Gunner

Sergeant G.C. Borradaile  – Air Gunner

On the evening of 2nd August, F/Sgt. Nancarrow and crew were detailed for a night cross-country exercise in Lancaster ED500. It is thought that the crew had just arrived on the squadron from one of the Lancaster Heavy Conversion Units, and this was one of a series of training flights  required on the squadron prior to the crew becoming ‘operational‘.

The flight progressed normally, until the port outer engine lost power, followed shortly by the port inner and starboard inner engines. With the aircraft loosing height over blacked-out countryside, the skipper ordered his crew to bail out, and attempted to land the aircraft himself in open countryside.

At around 00.30 hrs, the aircraft broke up during the ensuing forced landing near Park Farm, 2 miles South of Audlem. (One report suggests that it was 3 miles North of Audlem, but I believe this is incorrect.) Although his crew all landed safely by parachute, F/Sgt. Nancarrow was taken to the RAF hospital at Cosford, suffering from shock, concussion, and lacerations.

Following the accident, the investigation officer concluded that the state of the wreckage precluded any form of technical investigation, but that the three suspect engines be returned to Rolls-Royce for strip examination, the result of which is not known. He also stated that the Flight Engineer had carried out all the correct drills and actions, but to no avail.

Of the six crew members involved in this incident, three were later to lose their lives on operations with Bomber Command.

Flight Lieutenant Harold Leonard Fry RAFVR, age 21,was killed on 29th January 1944 during a mission to Berlin. Sgt. Gavin Carfrae Borradaile RAFVR, failed to return on the night of 30/31st January 1944, a victim of a German night-fighter. His target was also Berlin, and both lie in the city‘s 1939-45 cemetery.

As for Flight Sergeant Wilfred Sydney Millar RAFVR, his luck ran out on the night of 22/23rd April 1944, and is buried with his crew at Nieuwolda General Cemetery in the Netherlands.

Ian Evans

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