Hi all: Not a great deal to go on I know, but here goes. On 17 Sept 1944 a "large glider" came down in a field close to the church at the village of Melton, near Woodbridge, Suffolk. Presumably this was one of those involved in the mass airborne landings that day. Strangely there is no mention in any of the East Suffolk Police reports on this incident, although a P-51 crash at Leiston and a Halifax at Holton on the same date are covered. The ditching of a USAAF glider off Aldeburgh the following day is also covered by the Police. I hope to have a more detailed written account from a gentleman who saw the glider as a boy shortly. Does anyone with an interest in Market Garden have any further details? TIA for any help. Regards, BC
This could be Chalk 272 carrying members of the 7th KOSB which is recorded as landing on Martlesham Heath, east of Ipswich, after the tug aircraft suffered engine trouble. I understand that this was an operational airfield at the time as a Dakota was sent to recover the glider but it was found to be u/s.
As far as I can see CN 272 was the only glider that I can see that landed near Melton on 17th. However there were three others on 18th which landed in that approx area. Could it be one of them instead??? There is a bit of detail about Glider Chalk Number 272 in Tugs and Gliders to Arnhem and also some documents from the National Archives are attached. CN 272 was flown by S/Sgt Bill Melrose and Sgt John MacDonald (McDonald in GPs at Arnhem - MacDonald in his POW Questionnaire and in Tugs and Gliders to Arnhem) carrying 17 No.1 Mortar Team, KOSB Troops (names in attached), 6 handcarts and 2 folding bicycles. The tug aircraft was a Dakota of 437 Sqn,serial no KG 563 piloted by F/O Warrington (other crew members names in attached). They were over the sea when an air lock in the tug's engine started to cause problems and they lost altitude. They regained normal towing position but were unable to regain operational height and fearing further engine trouble turned back for England. The tow rope had become tangled in the Horsa's undercarriage. They landed at Martlesham Heath Airfield where USAAF 356th Fighter Group were stationed. According to a pilot account from the Eagle (reprinted in Tugs and Gliders To Arnhem) "A Dakota Pilot, sent to collect this Horsa remarked 'I'm not towing that load of rubbish back'" The glider was unserviceable. The glider pilots returned to Down Ampney and went on the third lift (19th September) towed by a tug from 48 Sqn (KG 416- Pilot F/L Whitfield DFM). The glider landed safely at LZ S (north of the Railway tracks at Wolfheze) and the tug returned with "minor" damage from flak. I do not have details on the fate of the KOSB troops to hand, but Sgt McDonald was wounded in the right leg and taken POW on the 19th. He was interrogated at Oberursel and sent to Stalag Luft VII where he was until Jan 1945. He was then moved to Stalag IIIA where he was from Feb 1945 to May 1945. S/Sgt Melrose had was also taken POW on 19th and was in Stalag Luft VII and Stalag IIIA for the same time. Perhaps listen to the account and see if there is any further information. Feel free to drop me a PM, as I will have some further details on all of them.
Thanks for the info gents. The village of Melton is approx 3 miles NE of the Martlesham Heath airfield site. I am anticipating the arrival of a letter containing further details and will get back to you as soon as I have digested this. If the date is correct, it does seem odd that East Suffolk Police missed it as they were usually very good in their coverage and the other two aircraft crashes this date were covered in some detail. We will get to the bottom of this eventually! BC
I am afraid that Mr Pasley is incorrect in saying that both Tug and Glider landed at Martlesham Heath airfield. After the tow rope became entangled with the glider's nose wheel the Glider Pilot requested permission to "cast off" - he did so and landed safely at Martlkesham Heath at 1220 hours. The Tug aircraft returned safely to its base where it landed at 1318 hours.
I think that this is the list of names of the KOSB passengers on Chalk 272 that Mr Pasley intended to post
Today received letter from eye-witness and unfortunately it does not really help. I will quote Mr Russell Whipp's account as it appears: "The date was 17th September 1944.The codename was operation Market Garden, which I found out from the War Museum at Duxford. 17th September was a Sunday,my elder brother and I were walking home from church at about 12.00 noon (after pumping the organ at church) when we heard this unusual sound, and looked up to see the sky was full of gliders being towed towards the sea about 10 miles from Ufford, near Woodbridge. We got home and had lunch, then the word got round that a glider had crashed at Old Melton. We asked father if we could use our cycles to have a look, the distance was about 2 miles. When we got to the crash site the glider had hit the tree tops and wreckage was all over the place. There were also a lot of Military Policemen there, who told us to 'go away'. Since having a computer I have looked up Market Garden and found out more. The towing plane had lost one engine (stopped working). The pilot knew he could land at Sutton Heath (BC: RAF Woodbridge ELG) which was a crash aerodrome during the war, so he cut the glider loose, hence the crash. The pilot knew he could not get across the North Sea on one engine and towing a glider. Sutton Heath is only a short distance from Melton" (BC: Woodbridge ELG is approx 2 miles SE of Melton) I apologise if this has thrown up more questions than answers! BC
hi I'm searching for a R. Renton from the 7th KOSB and we pretty sure he was on a glider into Arnhem. Can anyone help?
