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Introduction

On 14 October 1943 the town of Whitehaven, Cumberland (now Cumbria) was awarded with a plaque from the RAF. The townsfolk had raised enough money following a ‘Wings For Victory Week’ to buy a bomber aircraft for the war effort. Coincidentally, immediately after the plaque was awarded by a Battle of Britain pilot an Avro Anson training aircraft crashed in the town. The five crewmen were all killed but miraculously nobody on the ground was killed or injured.

Surprisingly little can be found about this particular incident of the war years, although virtually all townsfolk who were alive during the war years can remember the incident. Although I was born some years after the war, I was brought up very close to the crash site on what is known as ‘The Brows’ so I know this area well. However, since the war the area has had trees planted and now forms part of what is known as ‘Arrowthwaite Woods’.

Recently, I have listened to three different people with memories of wartime Whitehaven refer to the plane crash. I have written separate articles for each of these three people: John McCrickett (Article ID A3623465), Joan Toner (Article ID A3856647) and Frances McAlone (Article ID A4117222). Additionally, another eyewitness to the plane crash, Tom Coyne, has also written his own short account of the plane crash for the ����ý “People’s War” website (Article ID A4026836).

Consequently, I decided to check the details of the incident, starting with the eyewitness testimonies referred to above. A local author by the name of Mr Jeff Wilson has written a book entitled ‘West Cumberland at War’. This book briefly mentions the Whitehaven plane crash of 1943. I contacted Mr Wilson by telephone and he kindly gave me some information as to where to find information about the plane crash in the Cumbria county Archives Office, which I subsequently consulted. I also obtained some details from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records. I visited the crash site but there is no visual evidence to be found there.

RAF 'Wings For Victory' Week

One of the Government-sponsored wartime appeals to raise money from the general public towards the war effort was the RAF 'Wings For Victory' Week, held in West Cumberland between 8 May and 15 May 1943. At other times in the war, there was a 'Warship Week', a 'Spitfire Week', a 'War Weapons Week' and a 'Tanks For Attack' Week. The purpose of all these campaigns was to finance the building of ships, tanks or aeroplanes that would then 'belong' to the particular locality where the funding to build it had come from.

In the Whitehaven / Ennerdale Rural District areas, the local newspaper 'The Whitehaven News' played a leading part in promoting the campaigns among the civilian population. In particular, the Manager / Secretary / Director (effectively the Editor) of the 'News', Mr John Roger Williams was instrumental in the area not just achieving its fund-raising targets, but exceeding them.

The Government had asked the town to raise a total of £164,000 to fund two Lancaster Bombers, and also asked the adjacent Ennerdale Rural District to raise £100,000 for Lancasters and Spitfires. For two relatively poor areas with small populations this appears to have been quite a target. Nevertheless, Whitehaven and Ennerdale RD raised a total of £202,000 and £160,000 respectively.

DFC Pilot-Author presents the town with its 'Wings'

Hence some months after the 'Wings For Victory' Week, an official ceremony was arranged at the Empress Ballroom on Duke Street in the town. This was to officially recognise and honour the efforts of the civilian population in supporting the RAF to fight the war. The date of this ceremony was Thursday 14 October 1943. Among those present at the ceremony, as reported in 'The Whitehaven News' in the edition published on Thursday 21 October 1943 were Mr J.R. Williams the newspaper manager, Mr F. Gardner, Deputy Commissioner for Savings for the Northern Area, the town Mayor, Alderman F. Harvey and a British Flying 'Ace', Flight Lieutenant David Moore Crook, DFC.

According to the contemporary newspaper article I consulted, Flight Lieutenant Crook had taken part in the Battle of Britain and had written a book entitled 'Spitfire Pilot' that was described as "... one of the most thrilling RAF books yet published...". Mr J.R. Williams welcomed Flight Lieutenant Crook to the town, saying the town was pleased to have with them one of 'The Few' who had fought with against the Germans. Unfortunately, the article I consulted does not state what Flight Lieutenant Crook was awarded his DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross) for. It may have been for his actions during the Battle of Britain in 1940.

Flight Lieutenant Crook presented a plaque to the Mayor, Alderman F. Harvey, and said that he likened the occasion to the proudest moment in a pilot's life, namely when he received his 'wings'. He was reported as saying:

“I feel honoured to be able to join with you in this celebration of Whitehaven gaining its 'Wings'. I must congratulate all of you on your magnificent effort in not only reaching your target of £164,000 but on going on to top the £200,000. ..... It makes a great difference to the RAF to feel that their efforts are backed up by the people at home…”.

The Flight Lieutenant also presented a set of log books that were intended to record the achievements of the town's Lancaster Bombers, and which would later be returned to the town. If the log books were later sent back to Cumbria, they may well be at one of the Cumbria County Archives Offices. While I did not look for the log books to write this article it may be interesting some other time to discover the story of these Lancaster Bombers.

Five killed when an Avro Anson plane crashes

The award ceremony described in the previous section must have taken place in the afternoon. When it was over, Mr J.R. Williams was then taking Flight Lieutenant Crook back home for tea, but the two of them ended up going somewhere else. An Anson training aircraft crashed into a part of the town known as 'The Brows' at Arrowthwaite, Kells. Mr Williams drove the Flight Lieutenant straight to the crash site.

When I consulted the 21 October edition of the 'News' I found no mention whatsoever about the plane crash! Although there was the article about the 'Wings' ceremony with Flight Lieutenant Crook and Mr J.R. Williams present there was not even the slightest hint I could find that there had been a plane crash in the town. Nor could I find any reference to the incident in subsequent editions. Evidently, this was an example of newspapers being constrained in the stories they published.

It was at this point I contacted Mr Jeff Wilson, author of 'West Cumberland at War' to ask if he knew whether or not Mr J.R. Williams had written about the air crash at a later date. My thinking was that if a professional newspaper editor was one of the first on the scene of a what was a major interest he must have made some record for posterity. Thanks to Mr Wilson I was able to find a book in the Cumbria Archives Office by Mr J.R. Williams, published in July 1952, where he had indeed written a small piece about the 1943 plane crash: 'The Whitehaven News Centenary 1852 - 1952', pages 65-66 (Cumbria Archives Reference: 79/WIL 134729).

Even in this book, however, which was published some years after the war, Mr J.R. Williams still only gives a brief account of the accident. However, I feel sure that Mr Williams will have given a more detailed account of his eyewitness testimony to the official Air Ministry investigators at the time.

Nevertheless, Mr Williams states that the aeroplane approached the town from the north when it broke up in the air. This would tend to support what other eyewitnesses have told me, that they believed the aircraft had come from the Silloth airfield, which is to the north. Mr Williams' written testimony states that "... five gallant airmen lost their lives". The main fuselage, engines and other wreckage came down on 'The Brows' at Kells. Mr Williams does not give the names of the airmen or their nationality.

However, Mr Williams mentions two things about Flight Lieutenant Crook's views of the accident. Firstly, the Flight Lieutenant was able to retrieve what he refers to as a "... vital and secret part of what was left of the machine". Secondly, Mr Williams says Flight Lieutenant Crook was deeply affected by seeing the way his fellow airmen had died and that he was largely silent apart from one telling and moving phrase:

"What a futile way to die."

Flight Lieutenant Crook had left a happy, proud and friendly ceremony and been driven straight to the scene of a sad, tragic accident where some of his fellow RAF flyers had died. Perhaps this is just one example of the emotions people went through in very short time spans during the war years.

The airmen who died

While there was no mention of the names of the five airmen who died in the crash in the written account by Mr Williams that I found in the Cumbria Archives Office, I was able to find another book in the Cumbria Archives Office that does mention them. Again, I would like to thank Mr Jeff Wilson for his assistance in helping me to locate this book in the Archives: 'Air Crashes in the Lake District 1936 - 1976' written by Michael J. Hurst in 1997, page 58 (ISBN 1 85310 874 X).

Mr Hurst's book catalogues the air crashes in the Cumbria / Lake District area between 1936 and 1976, based on information from various sources, including the MoD Air Historical Branch and the Public Records Office at Kew. Mr Hurst states it is as accurate as possible, given that some of the information was still restricted or incomplete at the time of publication. As might be expected, the vast majority of the plane crashes mentioned in Mr Hurst's book occurred in World War Two. He states that the names of the aircrew, where known, come from records made at the time of the investigations. Mr Hurst's account states that at least some of the crew had tried to bale out, but because they were too low to the ground, the parachutes failed to open.

According to Mr Hurst's book, the names of the five airmen killed in the air crash on 'The Brows' were: H.J. O'Gara, S. Johnston, T. Inman, V.J. Dunningan and R.H. Murphy. Using this information, I cross-checked the details with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records. I could find no 'S. Johnston' in their casualty records that would match to an RAF casualty on 14 October 1943. However, after searching through the CWGC database I believe the correct name for this airman is 'C. Johnson' (apologies if this is not the case). Also, the casualty listed in Mr Hurst's book as 'V.J. Dunningan' is given as 'V.J. Dunnigan' in the CWGC records.

I have obtained much of my knowledge about World War Two in continental Europe. In many villages and towns in France, Belgium and the Netherlands the citizens regard Allied soldiers or airmen who died within their municipality as their 'adopted sons'. The names of many of these 'adopted sons' are known to virtually everyone who lives within the municipality. So, in this section I include a few details about these five airmen, whom I believe should be honoured as 'adopted sons of Whitehaven' .

As I write this article, I can look out of the window and see the crash site where these five brave airmen died on 14 October 1943. Yet, until a few days ago, I did not know who they were, where they originally came from or even where they are buried. Many of the residents of Whitehaven born after the war are probably unaware there even was a wartime air crash close to the town centre, let alone know the names of those who died in it. Most of the townsfolk I have talked to who do know about the air crash have told me they believed the air crew were Canadians. Mr Tom Coyne, whose eyewitness account about the plane crash I referred to above believed they were Americans.

Listed below are some details I obtained from the CWGC records about the five airmen who died on 'The Brows' at Kells on 14 October 1943. They will be 'Commemorated in Perpetuity' by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Undoubtedly, they are still honoured by their family and friends. I would now like to honour their memory as ‘adopted Cumbrians’. As can be seen from the records, three of the five are British, one was a Canadian serving with the RCAF and one an American serving with the RCAF. Given that four of them are buried in Cheshire, I believe this may indicate that was their ‘home base’. They may have been temporarily based at Silloth for a short period of training when the accident happened.

Details of the five aircrew:

1. Flying Officer Henry Joseph O'Gara.
Service No. 126599, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.
Aged 29 when he died on 14 October 1943.
The son of Michael and Mary O'Gara, of Glasgow.
The husband of Mary A. O'Gara, of Glasgow.
Buried at CHESTER (BLACON) CEMETERY (Grave Reference: Sec. A. Grave 857).
[NB - Chester is in Cheshire. Section 'A' of Chester (Blacon) cemetery was used as a Royal Air Force regional cemetery by a number of R.A.F. stations in Cheshire and the adjoining counties. According to the CWGC, only airmen are buried in this section].

2. Sergeant Cyril Johnson
Service No.1615489, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.
Aged 33 when he died on 14 October 1943.
The son of Harold and Constance Johnson.
The husband of Mabel Kenyon Johnson, of Wistaston. M.A. (Lond.)
Buried at NANTWICH (ALL SAINTS) CHURCH CEMETERY (Grave Reference: Grave 48).
[NB - Wistaston is near to Nantwich in Cheshire. This cemetery was probably chosen for Sergeant Johnson because it was near the family].

3. Sergeant Thomas Inman (Wireless Operator /Air Gunner)
Service No.1239963, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.
Aged 20 when he died on 14 October 1943
The son of John Thomas Inman and Violet Inman, of Silsden.
Buried at SILSDEN (HOWDEN ROAD) CEMETERY (Grave Reference: Grave 263).
[NB - Silsden is in West Yorkshire, to the west of Ilkley. This cemetery would be near the family home].

4. Sergeant Vincent James Dunnigan
Service No. R/152072, Royal Canadian Air Force
Aged 26 when he died on 14 October 1943.
The son of Daniel and Agnes Dunnigan.
The husband of Elizabeth Mary Dunnigan, of Buffalo, New York, U.S.A.
Buried at CHESTER (BLACON) CEMETERY (Grave Reference: Sec. A. Grave 812).
[NB - Although it seems as though Sergeant Dunnigan was an American he was serving with the RCAF. It would have been impractical at the time to take Sergeant Dunnigan back to North America for burial in 1943].

5. Sergeant Rene Harold Murphy
Service No. R/151321, Royal Canadian Air Force
Aged 20 when he died on 14 October 1943.
The son of John Murphy, and of Nolia Murphy, of Chapleau, Ontario, Canada.
Buried at CHESTER (BLACON) CEMETERY (Grave Reference: Sec. A. Grave 767).
[NB - Sergeant Murphy was Canadian and serving with the RCAF. As with Sergeant Dunnigan, it would not have been possible to send him to North America for burial in 1943].

Flight Lieutenant D.M. Crook, DFC

I checked the records to see if Flight Lieutenant Crook had perhaps written an account of the plane crash he had witnessed on 14 October 1943. However, I then discovered that the Flight Lieutenant had unfortunately also been killed later in World War Two, on 18 December 1944.

Checking the CWGC records again, I found that Flight Lieutenant Crook has no known grave. He is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, to the west of London, between Egham and Windsor. There are over 20,000 names on that Memorial. Therefore, I would also like to honour this RAF hero and record his details in this article.

Details of Flight Lieutenant D.M. Crook, DFC:

Flight Lieutenant David Moore Crook DFC
Service No 90478, Royal Air Force (Auxiliary Air Force)
Aged 30 when he died on 18 December 1944.
The son of William Clifford Crook and Winifred Moore Crook
The husband of Dorothy Margaret Crook, of Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
Remembered with honour at RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL (Panel 202)

Because he died before the end of the war, I feel it unlikely the Flight Lieutenant wrote a separate memoir about ‘The Brows’ plane crash. Undoubtedly, he will have given an official report to the Air Ministry. This may be available in the National Archives.

Conclusion

I would like to dedicate this article to the RAF airmen mentioned in this article who lost their lives in World War Two. Many aircrew lost their lives while training in Cumbria, often due to mechanical or structural failure. Despite the fact I can see ‘The Brows’ crash site from where I live it has been difficult to get accurate details of what happened.

I would like to thank all who have assisted me to write this article about some gallant airmen who I feel should be ‘adopted sons of Whitehaven’ . I hope it has added to the knowledge about what happened in the war.

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