RAF WWII - Crash UK nr Whitehaven?

[vapcq45]

My uncle Thomas Henry Loftus died at the age of 19 on 26 July 1943.  He was a Sergeant in RAF VR No. 1600812.  His aircraft crashed, killing all 7 on board on their first flight after passing training.  Thomas was buried in Chester (Blacon), death registration was Whitehaven, Cumberland.  How can I find out details of the crash and who else was with him?  We don't think this happened in action, rather a tragic accident.

Many thanks
Val

[nanny jan]

Hi,

Here's his entry on CWGC site:

http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx?cpage=1&sort=name&order=asc

From that you can link to the other CWGC burials in the cemetery.


Nanny Jan

[sharki]

Hi Val,
I have your uncle as a crew member of Lancaster Mk1 W4947 GP-Z of 1661 Heavy Conversion Unit.
This aircraft took off from RAF Winthorpe at 2255hrs on 17th July 1943, for a night navigation sortie which involved flying over the Irish Sea. It would appear that the Lancaster came down in the water around 0240hrs on the 18th, somewhere between Barrow-in-Furness, Lancs. and St Bees Head on the Cumberland coast. Two of the crew were never found, the others being recovered from the sea in the days following the crash. I regret I have no other information to pass on but I hope this is of some use to you.
Best Regards.

[Chasing-fireflies]

That particular Lancaster flew in 6 combat missions before being assigned to training duties in 1943(possibly as previously it had returned early during a mission in May where they had encountered compass issues and other minor problems). They recovered the propeller in 1995 from the sea t St. Bees and is now at Solway aviation museum.

Some others from the crash were:

Sgt E Saxon wireless operator/air gunner

Sgt Leverton from Sherwood

Pilot Officer STANLEY CLARENCE DYKES
(Flight Engineer)

"Two are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, three bodies were later claimed by n.o.k. while Sgt Loftus of Morden Surrey and Sgt Leverton from Sherwood, Nots were buried in Chester (Blacon) Cemetery. "

[vapcq45]

Thank you so much for this information, amazing and really adds to Thomas's story.  I'm very grateful!

Val

[daretodiscover]

Mod, please delete

[Simon Lane]

hi Val
My name is Simon and Dennis Leverton was my uncle - you seem to have as much information as I can find already but it is amazing to find someone who has been looking as I have for more details of this tragic story
Simon