USAAF drop tank accident. July 1944
 

Does anyone have more details on this incident. Reported 28/7/1944 when a believed to have been a USAAF P47 lost a fuel tank over Lambley Nottingham. The 20 yr old male and 6 mnth old girl later died.





https://vgy.me/8NDeys.png

Re: USAAF drop tank accident. July 1944
 

The newspapers of 26th August carry tge reports of the inquest.

If you sign up to Britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk you will get three free searches/ downloads/veiws.

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1944-01-01/1944-12-31?basicsearch="catfoot%20lane"&phrasesearch=catfo ot%20lane&retrievecountrycounts=false&sortorder=da yearly&page=1

Re: USAAF drop tank accident. July 1944
 

Thank Denise , I had those as I'm a member of the BNA. I was trying to find out a little more info for a local. He had a contact who knew quite a bit more about the airmen but unfortunately passed away before giving him the details. I was hoping some USAAF buff had records of the incident.

Re: USAAF drop tank accident. July 1944
 

Do the inquest reports name the airmen? Can you share or transcribe the reports? We might be able to trace back?

DENNIS

Re: USAAF drop tank accident. July 1944
 

To paraphrase : Incident 26/7/44 . Mrs Clara Pearman of Theiville , Catfoot Ln , Lambley stated two aircraft skimmed the house , the 3rd grazed the chimney. She did not see it strike the chimney pot but it was found later displaced. She saw an object drop from the left wing and enter the house through the dining room window. The thing went woof and the house was ablaze. Mrs Pearman stated the flames came out the window onto Ann's baby carriage which was outside the window. An American airman who was one of the pilots denied they were low enough to hit a chimney pot. A second pilot said he had jettisoned his auxiliary fuel tanks as he had engine trouble which caused him to lose height. The engine trouble ceased after the tanks were jettisoned.

Re: USAAF drop tank accident. July 1944
 

noggin,

You may have tried this but I wondered if you could get any help from the local historical society. They have contact information on their website:

http://www.lambleyheritage.co.uk/index.html

Re: USAAF drop tank accident. July 1944
 

Likely no answer here to what airplane involved, but as an aside: http://discovery.nationalarchives.go...ls/r/C14198190


Regards,


Leendert

Re: USAAF drop tank accident. July 1944
 

Hello,

Re: Cyril Sneath:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/...upplement/5336

Col.

Re: USAAF drop tank accident. July 1944
 

Is there any aircraft that fits the bill here.

https://www.aviationarchaeology.com/...y/Jul1944O.htm

Re: USAAF drop tank accident. July 1944
 

Dennis,

I did not see any that would seem to fit. We seem to have two possible dates mentioned so far, i.e. July 26 or July 27, but I did not see any likely possibilities.

Most/all? of the Fighter Groups were based further to the east, many around Ipswitch for example. Thus for three (or four) fighters to be flying with drop tanks near Lambley, I would think it was possibly a training mission or a ferry flight, maybe from a depot in N. Ireland or some other northern location. If it was a ferry flight, the planes would probably not have been "assigned"/"registered" to a group yet, so searching in Fighter Group records may be useless. I don't know if the pilots would have been ferry pilots or if a fighter group would send men from the group "up north" to fly the planes back. ( And would a ferry flight from N. Ireland even need drop tanks?)


P-47s in N. Ireland
https://www.fold3.com/image/47643744
https://www.fold3.com/image/47643767

Re: USAAF drop tank accident. July 1944
 

Thank You, Noggin & All The Above. I think the pilot was named in the Coroners report, but that it was not published at the time for "security reasons"
This incident brings out the terrier in me. Because nothing about it seems to appear in published histories, I strongly suspect that the unit involved was some second line affair, Atcham/Goxhill, that kind of thing. Is I ever get a name, I'll be on here for follow-up info.

Re: USAAF drop tank accident. July 1944
 

As Rolland remarked, most USAAF fighters were based in SE England.



I was thinking of a flight to/from RAF Burtonwood near Warrington, home of Base Air Depot 1, the major USAAF maintenance center/centre, including P-47s (if that was the fighter type involved...).


Nottingham is roughly halfway between Burtonwood and Norfolk/Suffolk.


Regards,


Leendert

Re: USAAF drop tank accident. July 1944
 

Leendert,

Yes, Burtonwood is a possibility. Another would be Warton.

Here are two fighter crashes by ferry pilots related to Burtonwood and Warton.
https://etvma.org/veterans/herman-c-carey-9530/
http://laituk.org/P-51_43-6635.htm

I think the main ferry squadrons in England were the 310th, 311th and 312th Ferry Squadrons of the 27th Air Transport Group.

Re: USAAF drop tank accident. July 1944
 

See if you can get the coroners report. Contact the modern day office and see if they know where archives might be.