Hello, Brian,
A detailled account of a Wellington flying into British balloons on 7 August 1942:
The Vickers Wellington IC R1075 of 16 OTU, Upper Heyford was engaged on a night navigation exercise. The crew consisted of P/O John Maura, pilot, P/O Percy Leslie Moxey (navigator), Sgt Norman Geoffrey Crabtree (Wop/Ag), Sgt Saddler, Sgt Russell and LAC Ronald Leonard Smith who appears to have gone along as a passenger. The aircraft and crew were attached to C flight.
The aircraft had taken off at 2207 hours on the 6th of August 1942. The exercise had been uneventful and had taken the crew to the Isle of Man. Over Douglas thet turned for home at 0030 hours and set course for Worcester. They followed a course of 160 degrees (C) with an ETA at the coast of 0106 hours and ETA Worcester at 0143 hours. Their altitude was 5000 feet and P/O Maura described the weather as quite thick and on consultation with his navigator reduced altitude to 3000 feet at around 0100 hours. As they were still in cloud P/O Maura reduced altitude to 2000 feet after first confirming with P/O Moxey that it was safe to do so. This brought them just below very thick cloud but the visibility remained very poor. At approx 0110 hours the navigator requested a QDM from th wireless operator and at approx 0115 hours the air bomber and navigator identified a place to port as Wolverhampton. The navigator then asked P/O Maura to circle to port while he checked his position. P/O Maura reported that no ballon squeaker was heard by him. This was a device by which ballon barrages emitted a signal which would be picked up by aircraft in the vicinity alerting the crew to the balloon’s presence. He comments that even at 2000 feet they were in intermittent cloud. P/O Maura started his turn at about 0125 hours, the aircraft almost immediately striking balloon cables, followed 30 seconds later by another impact which he believed to be another cable. This was almost certainly the impact of the drogue chute against the cable.
He immediately ordered the crew to bale out to which the navigator replied ’going’ and saw the air bomber attach his parachute and bale out. He observed two other crew members adjusting their parachutes and rushing aft to bale out. It was at this point that the aircraft hit another ballon cable (the second) and the aircraft became uncontrollable. P/O Maura then proceeded to bale out himself and noted the altitude as 700 feet. He landed safely and reported to the local police. The time was noted as 0136.
Birmingham ballon barrage records record two impacts at 0136 and 0140 hours, the latter entry being from the site closest to the crash. It appears the aircraft came down alongside the canal in the Kingsbury Road area. Certainly within a couple of miles of the airfield and factory at Castle Bromwich.
Plt Off Percy Leslie Moxey, Sgt Norman Geoffrey Crabtree and LAC Ronald Leonard Smith were killed in the crash. P/O Maura survived both the crash and the war, retiring from the RAF in 1946 with the substantive rank of Flight Lieutenant. There is some conjecture that he may have flown day fighters later in the war. Sgts Saddler and Russell both survived the incident but nothing is known of them subsequently.
Source:
http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/arc....php?t-66.html
http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_...sualty=2421586