No.1238554, Aircraftsman 2, Laurence Leonard SMITH
Aged 21
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Laurence Leonard SMITH was born in 1922 (Newmarket Q1-1922 3B:809), son of David William and Ada SMITH(née BECKETT), one time of Fen Bank,Isleham.
In the 1939 register, at 3 Bushel Lane, Soham were his farther David W [18-12-1882] travelling barge man; his mother Ada[1-5-1883] and sister Joan K[16-6-1914] later Mrs CORLEY. He married Joan Mary HILLIER, in Weymouth, Dorset, in 1941. He died at Oaksey Woods, near Kemble, Wiltshire (Chippenham Q1-1943 5A:100) and was brought home and buried in Soham Cemetery on 21st January 1943. |
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Halifax II, W7844 of No 1 Overseas Aircraft Preparation Unit from RAF Kemble stalled during manoeuvrability trials and spun into the ground at Oaksey Woods,
2 miles SE of Kemble, Wilts on 14th January 1943. Those aboard, all killed, were:- Flt Lt (pilot) HARRISON, FREDERICK CHARLES BENJAMIN (41018) RAF; age: 23 F/Sgt ( W.Op/Air Gunr) THOMAS, THOMAS JAMES GLYDWR (615005) RAF, age:24 Cpl MUNSON, HERBERT LEONARD (1268225) RAFVR; age: 35 these three were the aircrew, the following were "out for the ride" Cpl HEYWOOD, FREDERICK WILLIAM (1051229) RAFVR; age: 27 Cpl ASHWORTH, WALTER ALEX (1023874) RAFVR; age: 22 Fg Off HAMILTON, HENRY FORBES (105996) RAFVR; age: 25 AC2 SMITH, LAURENCE LEONARD (1238554) RAFVR; age: 20 AC2 HADRILL, VIVIAN GEOFFREY BARNES (1411069) RAFVR; age: ? and from "Gloucestershire Airfields in the Second World War" by David Berryman:- "January 1943 brought tragedy for No. 1 OAPU when Halifax W7844 crashed with eight personnel from the unit's despatch flight on board. The bomber has taken off on a routine test flight and a number of ground crew had gone along for the ride. The pilot was 34 year old F/L Frederick Harrison the CO of the Test and Despatch Flight. Another a/c seen in the vicinity at the same time is variously identified as a Spitfire or a Blenheim. There is no doubt that this second a/c is associated with the incident that followed but the details are obscure. What is known for certain is that the Halifax went into a steep turn at 2000ft, stalled and spun in. This was something the Halifax was prone to do off a steep turn. Harrison was comparatively inexperienced on this type of a/c and may have been taken unawares. The a/c came down at Oaksey Woods to the east of Kemble striking the ground vertically. One of those that saw the Halifax 'go in' was local man Bill Sherwood. He was one of the first to get to the crash scene. The a/c was a blazing inferno; crash recovery vehicles sped to the crash site across fields but could do nothing more than contain the fire." Further, from Martin Saunders on the http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?16952-14th-January-1943-RAF-Kemble Although F/LT Harrison, at 24 was a very experienced pilot, he was somewhat unfamiliar with the Halifax having just converted onto the type after flying Wellingtons for some time operationally in the Mediterranean and then at Kemble. After flying for about 15 minutes in the vicinity of the airfield during which it "shot up" a Wellington, the Halifax chased a OTU Spitfire that happened to be in the area. The pilot of the Spitfire took evasive action ending up in a steep turn to port and the Halifax followed in a very steep left hand turn during which it fell into a spin. The spin was checked at a low height but the aircraft struck the ground in the resultant dive into local woods at Oaksey, approx one and a half miles from Kemble. An outbreak of fire occurred on impact and the aircraft was totally destroyed killing all 8 on board.It was a harrowing time for all at Kemble as at the time no one knew exactly who was onboard and due to the fire identification was was difficult. One lucky man was that day was Cpl K.Harman who was due to go along as flight engineer but 2 of his colleagues needed to get more flying hours in to qualify for their extra one and sixpence a day flying pay, so they asked him to give up his place which he did. F/O Pardoe of the accident investigation branch at Gloucester inspected the crash site. Their enquiry concluded that the accident was due to an error of judgement on the part of the pilot resulting in the aircraft stalling and spinning while carrying out unnecessary manoeuvres at an unsuitable height. f/LT Harrison was buried with full honours in Cirencester at 2pm on the 19th January. From that day on no one "went for a ride" unless necessary!. |
A Handley Page Halifax Mk II
the crash site at Oaksey (photo Martin Saunders)
click here to go to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for full cemetery/memorial details