RAF Liberator Crash
 

A friend of mine who lives near Ilminster is researching the crash of RAF Liberator Mk VIII KH126 on 22/11/45. It was carrying 22 members of the Royal Signals Corps from RAF Merryfield to Castel Benito in Libya.Shortly after take-off, the aircraft struck high ground in conditions of near-zero visibility. There were no survivors

The Accident Branch Investigator's Report ref W2296 contains the following item:-

"42. R. D. A.’s Defects:
Noted."

Can anyone tell me what the initials R.D.A stand for?

Many thanks in advance,
Mike U

Re: RAF Liberator Crash
 

Hello Mike,

This source https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/25125 notes that the Liberator's destination was Bombay, India. Was Castel Benito intended as a stopover?

KR, Timon

Re: RAF Liberator Crash
 

Hi Timon,
Thank you for your reply. That's interesting information. The Accident Report definitely gives Castel Benito as the destination and there's no mention of an onward leg to Bombay. However, that may be because it wasn't considered relevant to the investigation. Who knows?


Regards
Mike

Re: RAF Liberator Crash
 

Hello,

On 17 September (1945), No 53 moved to Merryfield from St Davids. By 1 October, all transport training had been completed and No 53, along with other transport squadrons, set about moving 10,000 troops from the European theatre to India. The European terminal was at Melsbroek, near Brussels and at either Chakulia or Poona in India. The outbound leg was flown via Castel Benito, Cairo West, Shaibah and Mauripur. The return flights carried troops proceeding on home leave or repatriation and routed via Mauripur, Habbaniya, Lydda and Castel Benito to Merryfields.

See:
United In Effort The Story of No.53 Squadron Royal Air Force 1916-1978.
Manson,Jock.
Tunbridge Wells:Air-Britain (Historians),1997.
p.57.

Col.

Re: RAF Liberator Crash
 

Thank you for sharing this information.

Re: RAF Liberator Crash
 

R.D.A. may point to Repair Design Approval. My suggestion only.

Regards,
Leendert

Re: RAF Liberator Crash
 

Col and Timon, thank you for that excellent information, I've passed it on to my friend, who was most grateful.


Leendert, that's better than anything I've managed to come up with!

Re: RAF Liberator Crash
 

RDA...possibly something to do with a Radio Altimeter.