I am trying to find out a little more about the death of my Uncle Stanley Eric Taft in WWII. He died on 7 September 1941 in Empingham. He was a volunteer reserve in Squadron 144 and was only 20 years old. I have found out that his aircraft (Hampden I) crashed shortly after take off and this is recorded as being on the Empingham to Ketton road, Rutland, which was NE of the airfield, about 4 miles away from Stamford, Lincolnshire.
It would be interesting to find out the circumstances of the crash. His gravestone is in Birmingham so recovery would have taken place. Perhaps there was a newspaper article about the crash, or maybe there is an official record, although I know I will have to apply to the RAF at Innsworth.
Can anyone offer advice.
Hi,
I am the son of another 144 Squadron pilot (Peter Stevens), who force-landed near Amsterdam upon returning from the same mission on which your uncle was lost. My father also acted as P/O Roake's Navigator for several ops when he was first posted to the squadron in early April, 1941.
I have a copy of the Squadron ORB, which mentions engine failure as the cause of your uncle's crash. Being a pilot myself, I would be shocked that it would have been a double engine failure. Not only would that have been exceedingly rare, but it would have been much easier to recover from than a single engine failure (which causes all kinds of problems in a twin-engined plane due to adverse yaw causing the plane to corkscrew violently into a fatal spin). With a double engine failure, you would just glide straight ahead into the nearest field.
Please message me if you would like a copy of the ORB page that mentions your uncle's crash. It does not say "double engine failure", only "engine failure".
Best,
Marc Stevens
Toronto
