P/O Maurice Charles WOODGATE 21/11/41

[Sydney]

Andy,

P/O M C Woodgate pilot, Sgt Norrish navigator and Sgt Smith, of 1451 Flt, 11 Group, Fighter Command were flying a weather test from Hunsdon in a Havoc II Turbinelite, night fighter, serial number AH432.
They took off at 1545 hours, 21-Nov-1944 and lost height while making a circuit of the aerodrome. The aircraft hit high trees at Gilston Park, 9 miles east of Hunsdon, while in a shallow diving attitude. The aircraft crashed into the ground with fire on impact. Both airframe and engines were Cat W.
P/O Woodgate and Sgt Norrish were killed but Sgt Smith escaped with slight injuries.
The investigation determined that the windscreen had misted up but the exact cause of the accident was unknown. It concluded that the probable cause was that the pilot could not see and hit the trees while still in cloud.
Interestingly the subsequent RAE report stated that the bodies had been exposed to concentrations of carbon monoxide outside permitted limits which might have led to an error of judgement (noted in report).
P/O Woodgate had 60 hours solo on accident type with a total of 283 hours, 33hrs on instruments and 49hrs hours night.
There were no night operations from Hunsdon that night owing to fog but the there was a dance in the Sergeant’s Mess.

My mother was Arthur Norrish’s fiancé in 1935 but family objections forced a separation. My mother later married another navigator who completed a tour on Wellingtons. Despite her poor knowledge of mathematics she was always able to calculate the chances of survival for aircrew in Europe; 50%.

Sydney.