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The borrowed Hampden medium bomber (AD861) crashed into Plymouth Sound on 6th July 1941 with the loss of two lives.

Type

Handley Page Hampden Mk I

History

The Handley Page HP.52 Hampden is a British twin-engine medium bomber that was operated by the Royal Air Force. It was part of the trio of large twin-engine bombers procured for the RAF, joining the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and Vickers Wellington. The Hampden was powered by Bristol Pegasus radial engines, as used on the Short Sunderland flying boat.

On 1st July 1941 all Avro Manchester aircraft were grounded by Bomber Command due to continual problems.  97 squadron, who were stationed at RAF Coningsby were operating Avro Manchesters so found themselves without any aircraft so several 97 squadron crews joined the crews at 106.  

On 6th July 1941, the mixed team in 13 aircraft were part of an attack on Brest harbour involving over 100 aircraft in an attempt to sink the German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.  Take off from Coningsby started at 22:30, Sgts Haggar and Wotherspoon both returned early with engine problems but the remaining aircraft flew on.  On arrival over the target the Hampdens found the harbour hidden by a smoke screen so bombing was carried out on the general area of the docks.  F/L Stenner and P/Os Oliver and Harwood were carrying two 2000lb bombs each, the maximum load for a Hampden, and saw their bombs explode in the target area.

On the return flight one of the Hampdens borrowed from 97 Squadron, AD861, collided with a barrage balloon cable at 02:42H and crashed into Plymouth Sound. The pilot Sgt J.J. Field and Nav. Sgt C.F. Bedell exited the aircraft into a dinghy and were rescued but both gunners were killed. Sgt John Wright (751334) of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve managed to hold on to the dinghy but disappeared before he could be rescued. The 21 year old gunner F/Sgt Robert McCormack DFM (551688) died in the crash; both bodies later washed ashore and were recovered.  Despite his young age, McCormack was an air operations veteran and had completed 42 missions for No 83 Squadron and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal for his service.

Location

The remains of this aircraft have not been found; the location of the crash is not known but is likely to be north of Plymouth Breakwater if the aircraft hit a barrage balloon when returning from Brest. As this aircraft was fitted with the same engines that were used on Sunderland flying boats it is possible that this crash site has been misidentified, many Bristol Pegasus engines have been recovered from Plymouth Sound and some may have come from this aircraft.

Please note that all aircraft in UK waters that have crashed during military service are protected under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.

Last updated 15 Feb 2022

Position GPS: Unknown