Back to map Handley-Page Hampden AD825 12OTU, RAF
Aldbourne
18th April 1941
Aircraft took off from Hemswell, Lincolnshire to take part in a bombing raid over Brest. Abandoned by crew at 18:00 hrs one mile north-west of Aldbourne at 1000 feet, after receiving flak damage during the raid. Bombs jettisoned over sea. Crew all bailed out safely but the pilot, Sgt Metcalfe, was wounded in his arms and legs. Aldbourne resident, Gerald Jerram, recalls the incident:- "It was a wet Friday afternoon and I was looking out of the window of my parents home in Oxford Street. I saw the aircraft flying very low when it suddenly went nose up, stalled and crashed behind some bungalows (now demolished) about a mile north-west of the village".
Crew Details
Sgt. L W
Metcalf
Sgt. F A Armstrong
Sgt. D Pearce
Sgt. W Butler
Two items of wreckage recovered recently from the crash site by Adrian Crossan.
©
Copyright 2004 Roger Day