RAF Non-operational loss 21 March 1944

[Arjay1949]

Originally Posted by Arjay1949

Only supposition, but the second of the two Halifaxs that took off from Hurn immediately after JP137 that morning --that is JP107 ---was posted to 614 Squadron based at Celone, Italy, and was itself subsequently lost 'over Hungary' on 26th June 1944.
Does it seem reasonable that JP137 may have been also destined for 614 Squadron?

New information received suggests that JP137 may in fact have been assigned to 624 Squadron.

Letter received from an ex 624 Squadron member, recalling the reported loss of JP137 as losing one of 'ours' ... and remembering the pilot's name as Evans... Not sure if there's anyway of checking that out further?...

There is a website for 624 squadron, but the forum registration charge of £10 seems a bit high, for just a tentative enquiry.....

[Observer1940]

Originally Posted by Arjay1949

New information received suggests that JP137 may in fact have been assigned to 624 Squadron.

Letter received from an ex 624 Squadron member, recalling the reported loss of JP137 as losing one of 'ours' ... and remembering the pilot's name as Evans... Not sure if there's anyway of checking that out further?...

There is a website for 624 squadron, but the forum registration charge of £10 seems a bit high, for just a tentative enquiry.....

Hello Arjay

Your latest post, has made me look at the accident and aircraft paperwork relating to this aircraft and crash again. The ORB states:-

"Halifax II. JP.137 in transit from Hurn to M.A.A.F. crashed immediately after take-off" ...

Under "Station or Contractor" the Aircraft Card also confirms this Halifax was with 3 OADU prior to the crash, but was with the "MAAF" (Mediterranean Allied Air Force) on the date of the crash.

I'm afraid that the Mediterranean RAF Theatre of operations is not my main interest and I feel that someone else with more knowledge of that theatre of operations and Squadrons will be able to help.

One final point about a fire, official documents at TNA, Kew, indicate that the Halifax also had a problem with leaking fuel pipe unions.

Glad to see that you are following up all the lines of research diligently!!

Mark

[Observer1940]

Further to my post about the Halifax being with the MAAF on the day of the crash. The files of the MAAF, TNA, Kew, AIR 51 gives the following:-

Many of the records of the Allied Command were deposited, after microfilming, with the United States' Department of the Army. The records of Headquarters Mediterranean Allied Air Force (MAAF) were originally microfilmed by the MAAF Historical Section but inspection of these films by the Allied Forces Records Administration (AFRA) resulted in a decision to re-film the records to the technical standards prescribed by a Combined Chiefs of Staff's directive. Both sets of film eventually came into the hands of the Ministry of Defence, Air Department who were then able to make a direct comparison and, having established that there was complete duplication between them, they elected to destroy the AFRA microfilm in February 1973.

The joint Allied air command was established on 17 February 1943 under the name "Mediterranean Air Command", but was re-named "Mediterranean Allied Air Forces" with effect from 10 December 1943. Mediterranean Allied Air Forces was dissolved into its constituent parts: US Army Air Forces, Mediterranean Theatre of Operations and Royal Air Force, Mediterranean and Middle East on 31 July 1945.

A comment about the above, rather than destroy the so called "duplication" film set (of the MAAF files), they could have offered the set of filmed records to other Archives, Universities, or provincial main Libraries in the UK.