Second World War Commonwealth War Grave - First Officer David Russell Hayward, Air Transport Auxiliary - Killed in Air Accident

 

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

First Officer David Russell Hayward was born on 7th June 1920 in Adelaide, Australia, to Edwyn Walton (Jim) Hayward C.B.E. O.B.E., a director at John Martin & Co, and Australian department store, and his wife Eileen Frances Russell. David and his family moved to England when he was five years old.

David was an avid cricket player during his time at Oxford University.  He also played for Middlesex.

David's father Edwyn was to pass away on 30th August 1933, following a heart attack

On the 1939 Register David can be found living with his widowed mother Eileen at Flat 4, 26 Lowndes Street, Chelsea, London.

On 22nd March 1941 David married Peggy Alice Georgina Farmer.  David and Peggy had a son, Richard, together in 1943.

David had previously enlisted with the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, Air Fleet Arm from 27 May 1940, but was dismissed as unfit for service on 4th September 1944, due to constant sea sickness. Later David joined the Air Transport Auxiliary. During his time with the A.T.A., David was involved in two accidents, the first taking place on 15th December 1943 when he undershot the runway during a forced landing of his Walrus HD916 after an engine failure in bad weather.  David was injured and was treated in a hospital in East Grinstead for head injuries and concussion.

First Officer David Hayward

The second accident on the 21st April 1945 was to prove fatal, David was in command of a Fairchild Argus II HB595 at Lasham Airfield, Hampshire in what was to be a moonlight take off.  The Argus's engines cut soon after take-off and the aircraft crashed and burned not far from Lasham Hill Farm.  A later investigation found that the petrol cocks were only half on at the point of impact.

Fairchild Argus II

Second World War Commonwealth War Grave - First Officer Wilbur Washington "Bee" Acton, Air Transport Auxiliary - Killed in Mid Air Collision

 

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.



Wilbur Washington "Bee" Acton was born on 23rd December 1915 to William Albert Acton and his wife Irene Reece, in Ohio, USA.

In the States Wilbur worked as an airplane salesman for Dave Peterson Charter Services in Kansas.

During World War Two Wilbur signed up with the Air Transport Auxiliary on a contract basis, ferrying bomber and fighter planes from factories in Canada to England. The first contract lasted a year from 16th May 1941 to 15th May 1942. The second contract Wilbur signed was to last 18 months from 12th August 1943.  Wilbur was to earn the nickname "Bee" during his time flying for the A.T.A., it was reported that he was a "keen pilot competent to fly all types of single engine and light and medium twin aircraft."

First Officer Wilbur "Bee" Acton.

On 8th July 1944 First Officer Wilbur Acton was flying an Anson I NK773, when an Oxford X7134 piloted by Flight Lieutenant Bernard N Phillips, descended below the cloud cover and collided with the tail of Wilbur's Anson.  Both planes crashed in a field just five miles north of Hullavington, Rodbourne, Wiltshire.

RAF Pilot Bernard Norman Philips of the Oxford was killed, along with Squadron Leader William Alfred Law.

On July 20th 1944 Flight Magazine reported -

"Air Transport Auxiliary

First Officer Wilbur Washington (Bee) Acton, U.S.A., A.T.A., killed in the course of ferrying duties in England."

It seems at odds that the sacrifice these brave men and women made could simply be summed up in one sentence.

Restored Anson Mk I Bomber in flight

Source - Wikipedia

 

Second World War Commonwealth War Grave - First Officer Dora Lang, Air Transport Auxiliary - Killed in Air Crash

 

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

Monument to First Officer Dora Lang, All Saints Maidenhead Cemetery, Maidenhead, Berkshire, England.


Dora Lang was born Dora Tily on 30th March 1914 to Thomas William Tily, a jobbing gardener, and his wife Amelia Fielding, Shepherd's Bush, Middlesex. 

Dora first appears on the 1921 Census, aged 7, living with her parents and siblings at 103 Stanlake Road, Hammersmith, London.

In 1935 Dora married Henry Albert Lang, a motor engineer, and Civil Guard Pilot in Hammersmith, London

Dora flew at several flying clubs and became a Civil Air Guard (CAG). The Civil Air Guard was established in July 1938 to encourage and subsidise pilot training with the prospect of war on the horizon.

On the 1939 Register Dora can be found living with her husband at 103 Stanlake Road, with her Father Thomas William Tily, and uncle William Henry Tily. Dora's mother is away from the home caring for her elderly mother Emma Fielding.

After the outbreak of World War Two, Dora enlisted with the WAAF (Women Auxiliary Air Force) and served as an Operations Room Plotter. She applied to join the ATA, Air Transport Auxiliary service after hearing a radio appeal. The ATA was a British civilian organisation responsible for the ferrying of new, damaged, and repaired military aircraft between assembly plants, factories, maintenance units, scrapyards, and delivery points.

First Officer Dora Lang

On 2nd March 1944, whilst ferrying damaged a de Havilland Mosquito FB. Mrk VI aircraft with her Flight Engineer Janice Margaret Harrington, on approach to the RAF station at Lasham, Hampshire, Dora undershot her landing.  In an attempt to correct her mistake Dora 'opened up' her aircraft and climbed 150ft before the engines stalled.  The aircraft then flipped to the left and ploughed into the ground.  Dora and Janice were killed instantly.

On Wednesday 8th March 1944 the Daily Mirror reported:

"Two Women Ferry Pilots Die In Crash

Two women ferry pilots were killed while delivering a plane to an aerodrome in Hampshire. They were Mrs. Dora Lang, 29, of Sydney-street, Chelsea, London, S.W., and Miss Janice Maragret Harrington, 23, of The Orchard, Pudnoe-lane (misprint of Ludnoe), Bedford. At yesterday's inquest evidence showed that the aircraft was flying too slow for landing speed. It accelerated and rose sharply, and after stalling, crashed and burst into flames."

De Havilland Mosquito FB Mrk VI at Lasham RAF Station 1944.

 

  

Second World War Commonwealth War Grave - First Officer Alan Blair Dorrell, Air Transport Auxiliary - Died in Air Crash

Monument to First Officer Alan Blair Dorrell, All Saints Maidenhead Cemetery, Maidenhead Berkshire.

"Jesus said. "Greater love hath no man than this.  That a man lay down his life for his friends."


Alan Blair Dorrell was born on 8th May 1910 in St John, Worcestershire to John Dorrell, a clothing manufacturer, and his with Eveline Francis Hinks.

Alan appears on the 1911 Census aged just 11 months old, living with his parents and elder brother Geoffrey James and younger sister Nora Helen Dorrell, aged just one month, in Mavlern Road, St John, Worcestershire. On the 1921 Census Alan and his brother Geoffrey are boarding Bromsgrove School in Worcester.

Alan obtained his Aviators' Certificate on 24th May 1939 at Worcestershire Flying Club.

Alan appears on the 1939 Register living in the Pattern Arms Hotel in Warrington, Lancashire, where he is listed as being a Chartered Accountant.

First Officer Alan Blair Dorrell
A.T.A.

Alan first enlisted with the R.A.F in the October of 1939 as a Leading Aircraftman, responsible for giving early air raid warnings. Alan left in 1940 and in 1941 joined the Air Transport Auxiliary as an assistant accountant. On 5th of March 1942, Alan completed his term as assistant accountant and started flying duties.

During his time ferrying aircraft with the A.T.A, Alan was involved in three accidents. The first on 16th June 1942, when his Hawker Hart aircraft swung wildly during landing due to a technical fault. The second occurred on 21st July 1942, again the plane his was flying, a Gloster Gladiator swung during landing.  Sadly, Alan's third accident was to prove fatal when he crashed the Spitfire VIII he was flying at Byron Hall Farm, Stag Lane, Lowton near Warrington, in bad weather on 1st December 1943. He dived out of low cloud and over corrected, causing the tail of the aircraft to strike the ground. Alan was just 33 years old.

The Aeroplane, an aviation journal reported on 10th December 1943:

"A.T.A Causality

We regret to announce the death of First Officer Alan Blair Dorrell, of the Air Transport Auxiliary, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Dorrell, of Kylemore, Avenue Road, Malvern, Worcs."

Alan's funeral took place at All Saint's Maidenhead Cemetery on 7th December 1943. I have been unable to find any report on Alan's accident or funeral in any newspapers of the time.

Alan's name also appears on the Malvern War Memorial, in Malvern Worcestershire.

Air Transport Auxiliary Commander Margot Wyndham Gore, MBE, DO

Memorial to Margot W. Gore MBE, DO, All Saints Maidenhead Cemetery, Maidenhead, Berkshire.

"Aetheris Avidi. (Eager for the Air). - Cdr Margot W Gore MBE, DO - CO 15 Ferry Pilot Pool, Hamble 1941-5 - Born 24. 1. 1913 - Died 28. 8. 1993."

Margot Gore in ATA uniform.

Margot Wyndham Gore was born in East Preston, to William Wyndham Gore, a mining engineer, and his wife Martha Lord, at Worthing, Sussex on 24th January 1913.  she spent her early childhood in Ireland before the family returned to England in 1929.

In September 1939, Margot was an assistant instructor at Romford Flying Club, having made her first solo flight in November 1938.  Margot started with the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) on 24th June 1940 as a woman pilot. 

"First Officer Gore is a very steady and reliable pilot and has undertaken responsibilities in the office which she has carried out well."

She was one of only two female Commanding Officers in the ATA, commanding No, 15 Ferry Pool Hamble, the other being Marion Wilberforce.  This was highly unusual and at the beginning of the ATA many felt that women pilots were taking the jobs of male pilots.  C. G. Grey, editor of The Aeroplane, an influential magazine of the time reported -

"The menace is the woman who thinks that she ought to be flying a high-speed bomber when she really has not the intelligence to scrub the floor of hospital properly."

However as more and more women joined the war effort and qualified to fly, they were slowly accepted. Margot Gore herself was quoted as saying on the subject -

"I never had anybody say anything derogatory to me or nasty, in any way, [there was] surprise... particularly later on when we came in four-engines.  They did look very startled when a rather small person got out of a very big aircraft."


Margot was one of only four female ATA pilots that received and MBE for their services to their country in its hour of need.  After the war Margot continued to fly as an instructor at white Waltham Airfield and for the WAAF (Women's Auxiliary Air Force) Volunteer Reserve Flying Branch.

Margot sadly passed away on 28th August 1993 in Henley aged 80 years.

Second World War Polish War Grave - Second Officer Antoni Henryk Gosiewski, Air Trasport Auxiliary - Pennine Aeroplane Accident

 

Antoni Henryk Gosiewski was born Poland on 12th January 1900 to Feliks Gosiewski and his wife Biernacka Julyanna.  Antoni was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Polish Air Force from 1923 but by September of 1939 he was living in France and was then a Pilot Officer for the R.A.F. Later he was dismissed due to a Court Martial where he was found guilty of embezzlement committed back in Poland.  Antoni joined the A.T.A (Air Transport Auxiliary) in the September of 1941.  Some of the duties for ATA personal was ferrying new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factories, assembly points and transatlantic delivery points.

Second Officer Antoni Henryk Gosiewski

Antoni was married to Umerska Jadwiga who at the time were living in Lisbon, together they had two sons, Michal, and Krzystof. Sadly, Antoni's wife and sons would pass away when the ship they were travelling on, the SS Avoceta, from Lisbon to join Antoni, was torpedoed on the night of 26th September 1941, just weeks after Antoni had joined the A.T.A

During a ferry flight in Miles Master W8479, from the Phillips & Powis factory in Reading Berkshire, to R.A.F Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland, Antoni met his death on 19th December 1941 when he encountered bad weather over the Pennines causing him to fly into the summit of Arant Haw due to poor visibility. The wreck of the plane wasn't discovered until 24th December.  On the 31st December 1941 the Manchester Evening News reported:

"Polish Pilot Buried - Anton Henruk Gosiewski [sic] a Polish ferry pilot killed in a flying accident in the North of England during Christmas, was buried in the South of England."

Miles Master Aircraft

Cemetery Sunday - Air Transport Auxiliary ATA

A.R. Leslie-Melville

12th June 1942

The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British World War II civilian organisation that ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between UK factories, assembly plants, transatlantic delivery points, Maintenance Units (MU), scrap yards, and active service squadrons and airfields. It also flew service personnel on urgent duty from one place to another and performed air ambulance work.

First Officer Alexander Ronald Leslie-Melvillle died 12th June 1942 when he flew into a hillside at Great Sled Dale in Yorkshire in bad visibility whilst flying bewteen Henlow and Silloth near Carlisle.



T.C.D. Bray

18th March 1942

First Officer Thomas Charles David Bray of Austrailia, reported missing between Kirkbride and Thorney Island.

 J.B. Erickson

9th May 1942

First Officer John Burge Erickson, his Blenheim aircaft collided with another Blenheim after take off at White Waltham airfield on 9th May 1942

R.H Winn

28th January 1942

Second Officer Richard Harry Winn, flew into ground in a forced landing at Bald Hill Stainmore Westmorland whilst flying bewteen Dumfries and Catterick.

 B.E. Sayer

15th March 1942

Cadet Betty Eileen Sayer, engine stalled on approach to White Waltham airfield, the aircraft crashed into two bungalows on Smithfield Road on 15th March 1942, residents of the bungalows, Mr and Mrs Croft and Mrs Freeman escaped.  Neighbours who tried in vain to save the aircrew received burns and other injuries.

F.J. Bush

23rd November 1941

 

 

Captain Francis Joseph Bush, during a flight from Prestwick to Hawarden the engine of the Liberator II aircraft caught fire before the plane crashed into the sea off Pidinny Hill Stranraer Wigtown Bay

 H.E. Taylor

17th August 1941

Second Officer Henry Edward Taylor, crashed whilst landing at White Waltham airfield on 10th August 1941.  Sadly he died of his injuries on 17th August 1941.

P. Randall

17th March 1941

Captain Percy Randall, flew a Hurricane aircraft into high ground at Bledlow Buckinghamshire during bad visibility whilst flying between Henlow and Hullavington.



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