Wellington N2771 crash Bentley Priory 16/10/1940 Czech Airmen Casualties

Discussion in 'War Grave Photographs' started by CL1, Dec 21, 2009.

  1. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Dear All
    Please find attached photographs of the Graves of the 5 Czech Airmen buried in Pinner New Cemetery.
    They were from 311 Squadron and died in a crash in the grounds of Bentley Priory on 16/10/40
    The info below some what conflicts as to the exact cause of the crash

    "Czech and Slovak things" web site
    N2771 Wellington KX-H Returning with heavy damage from a raid on Bremen, the aircraft collided with the cable of a barrage balloon and crashed on the tennis courts at Bentley Priory, Stanmore, headquarters of Fighter Command. The five crew members listed above were killed and are buried together in a communal grave, G4-17. A sixth, Por.F.Truhlář, survived, although with serious burns.



    " lostbombers" web site
    operation:Kiel

    "Serial Range N2735 - N2784. 50 Wellington Mk.1C. Part of a batch of 100 Wellington Mk.1C. N2735-N2784; N2800-N2829; N2840-N2859. Delivered by Vickers (Chester) in July and August 1940. N2755; N2801; N2856; N2857 converted to Mk.XV. Airborne from East Wretham. Iced up while outbound and crashed 2145 16Oct40, near Bentley Priory, Middlesex.
    S/L J.Vesely KIA
    P/O J.Matousek KIA
    P/O J.Slaby KIA
    Sgt J.Albrecht KIA
    Sgt F.Zapletal KIA
    P/O F.Truhlar Inj "
    TRUHLÁŘ František, F/Lt, 82643 , 312 Sqdn, kpt./R/plk.
    * 19/11/17, Lomnice n. Popelkou /Semily/ , Pilot
    † 03/12/46
     

    Attached Files:

  2. John Stan Soc

    John Stan Soc Junior Member

    I am very interested in the history of Bentley Priory, particularly the WW 2 era. I knew of the fatal air crash in 1940 but did not know that Czech crew are buried at Pinner New
    Cemetery. I live near by and will visit to pay my respects.

    Thank you so much for this information.

    John Stan Soc
     
  3. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Hello John
    good to hear from you
    map below shows where the graves are
    [​IMG]
     
  4. Peter Clare

    Peter Clare Very Senior Member

    Dear All
    Please find attached photographs of the Graves of the 5 Czech Airmen buried in Pinner New Cemetery.
    They were from 311 Squadron and died in a crash in the grounds of Bentley Priory on 16/10/40
    The info below some what conflicts as to the exact cause of the crash

    "Czech and Slovak things" web site
    N2771 Wellington KX-H Returning with heavy damage from a raid on Bremen, the aircraft collided with the cable of a barrage balloon and crashed on the tennis courts at Bentley Priory, Stanmore, headquarters of Fighter Command. The five crew members listed above were killed and are buried together in a communal grave, G4-17. A sixth, Por.F.Truhlář, survived, although with serious burns.



    " lostbombers" web site
    operation:Kiel

    "Serial Range N2735 - N2784. 50 Wellington Mk.1C. Part of a batch of 100 Wellington Mk.1C. N2735-N2784; N2800-N2829; N2840-N2859. Delivered by Vickers (Chester) in July and August 1940. N2755; N2801; N2856; N2857 converted to Mk.XV. Airborne from East Wretham. Iced up while outbound and crashed 2145 16Oct40, near Bentley Priory, Middlesex.
    S/L J.Vesely KIA
    P/O J.Matousek KIA
    P/O J.Slaby KIA
    Sgt J.Albrecht KIA
    Sgt F.Zapletal KIA
    P/O F.Truhlar Inj "
    TRUHLÁŘ František, F/Lt, 82643 , 312 Sqdn, kpt./R/plk.
    * 19/11/17, Lomnice n. Popelkou /Semily/ , Pilot
    † 03/12/46


    From BCL Vol. 1 - W R. Chorley

    16-17 October 1940

    311 Squadron
    Wellington IC N2771 KX-
    Op. Kiel

    The aircraft took off from East Wretham and iced up while outbound and crashed at 2145 hrs near Bentley Priory, at least five crew members died in the crash and a sixth was reported injured.

    ..................

    Always best to cross ref when using 'lost bombers' the site is almost a direct plagiarism of the series 'Bomber Command Losses' by W R. Chorley
     
  5. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Peter many thanks
     
  6. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    ALBRECHT, JOSEF Rank: Sergeant Service No: 787410 Date of Death: 16/10/1940 Age: 25 Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 311 (Czech) Sqdn. Grave Reference Sec. G.4. Coll. grave 17. Cemetery HARROW (PINNER) NEW CEMETERY Additional Information:
    Of Czechoslovakia.

    MATOUSEK, JAROSLAV Rank: Pilot Officer Service No: 82524 Date of Death: 16/10/1940 Age: 25 Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 311 (Czech) Sqdn. Grave Reference Sec. G.4. Coll. grave 17. Cemetery HARROW (PINNER) NEW CEMETERY Additional Information:
    Of Czechoslovakia.

    SLABY, JAROSLAV Rank: Pilot Officer Service No: 82637 Date of Death: 16/10/1940 Age: 25 Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 311 (Czech) Sqdn. Grave Reference Sec. G.4. Coll. grave 17. Cemetery HARROW (PINNER) NEW CEMETERY Additional Information:
    Of Czechoslovakia.

    VESELY, JAN Rank: Squadron Leader Service No: 82582 Date of Death: 16/10/1940 Age: 34 Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 311 (Czech) Sqdn. Grave Reference Sec. G.4. Coll. grave 17. Cemetery HARROW (PINNER) NEW CEMETERY Additional Information:
    Of Czechoslovakia.

    ZAPLETAL, FRANT Rank: Sergeant Service No: 787242 Date of Death: 16/10/1940 Age: 30 Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 311 (Czech) Sqdn. Grave Reference Sec. G.4. Coll. grave 17. Cemetery HARROW (PINNER) NEW CEMETERY Additional Information:
    Of Czechoslovakia.
     

    Attached Files:

  7. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    A crash at 21:45 in mid October would suggest being outbound. It would therefore have still had it's bomb load aboard.
    Low enough to hit a barrage balloon cable (and Bentley Priory SHOULD have been well defended!) would also tie in with icing problems.

    Of course, if an eye witness account says it was on fire, engine out or whatever, then the other scenario might come back into play!

    On the face of the information, BCL seems to have it right.

    Bad night for 311 Sqd, losing L7786 and N2773 that night, attacking Bremen, following the loss of L7844 the night before, whilst attacking shipping and shipyards at Kiel.
     
  8. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Last edited: Mar 25, 2019
    Tricky Dicky likes this.
  9. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    I see we are mentioned on the link
    Date mentions 17th Oct ?

    Date: 17-OCT-1940
    Time: 21:45
    Type: Vickers Wellington Mk IC
    Owner/operator: 311 Squadron Royal Air Force (311 Sqn RAF)
    Registration: N2771
    C/n / msn:
    Fatalities: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 6
    Other fatalities: 0
    Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
    Location: Bentley Priory, near Stanmore, Middlesex - [​IMG] United Kingdom
    Phase: Approach
    Nature: Military
    Departure airport: RAF East Wretham Norfolk
    Destination airport:
    Narrative:
    Delivered to 311 Sqn, RAF coded 'KX-H'. Crashed 21:45 hours at Bentley Priory, near Stanmore, Middlesex, after taking off for a raid on Kiel 17/10/40; aircraft became iced up, suffered radio failure and the crew were unable to obtain an accurate fix, which all contributed to the aircraft crashing. Other sources state the N2771 collided with the the cable of a barrage balloon. Five of the six crew were killed:




    Accident Vickers Wellington Mk IC N2771, 17 Oct 1940
     
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  10. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    16th October 1940

    001 ALBRECHT J 787410 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17
    007 MATOUSEK J 82524 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17.
    008 SLABY J 82637 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17.
    009 VESELY J 82582 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17.
    010 ZAPLETAL F 787242 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17.
     
    Last edited: Oct 16, 2021
  11. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    16th October 1940

    001 ALBRECHT J 787410 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17
    007 MATOUSEK J 82524 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17.
    008 SLABY J 82637 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17.
    009 VESELY J 82582 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17.
    010 ZAPLETAL F 787242 311 CZECH SQDN 16/10/1940 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE SEC. G.4. COLL. GRAVE 17.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
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  12. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    RAF Bentley Priory - Wikipedia

    Wellington crash[edit]
    On 16 October 1940 a Vickers Wellington of the Czechoslovak-crewed No. 311 Squadron RAF collided with a cable of one of the barrage balloons protecting Bentley Priory. The aircraft had been on a bombing mission from RAF East Wretham to Kiel, but suffered icing and the failure of its compass and radio and was badly off-course.[5]

    The Wellington crashed outside the sergeants' mess,[citation needed] killing five of its six crew.[5] They are buried in a single shared grave at Pinner New Cemetery,[6] 4 miles (6.4 km) from Bentley Priory.

    The tail gunner survived with serious burns. He later retrained as a fighter pilot and served with No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF.[5]
     
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  13. Smudger195

    Smudger195 Active Member

    Interested in this crash. The crew actually departed from RAF Honington, 311 (Czech) 'Operational' crews would fly their Wellingtons from West Wretham to Honington to be fuelled and bombed up, and the crews briefed along with IX Squadron. The target for 311 was actually, Bremen, they were the only squadron tasked, other 3 Group squadrons were given Kiel Harbour. Has the Collison with the balloon cable ever been confirmed. I am awaiting a copy of the Air81 on this crash.

    Cheers

    Steve
     
    CL1 likes this.
  14. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Czech and Slovak things" web site
    N2771 Wellington KX-H Returning with heavy damage from a raid on Bremen, the aircraft collided with the cable of a barrage balloon and crashed on the tennis courts at Bentley Priory, Stanmore, headquarters of Fighter Command. The five crew members listed above were killed and are buried together in a communal grave, G4-17. A sixth, Por.F.Truhlář, survived, although with serious burns.



    " lostbombers" web site
    operation:Kiel
     
  15. Smudger195

    Smudger195 Active Member

    Thank you.
     
  16. Little Friend

    Little Friend Senior Member

    Never heard of West Wretham, I'm sure you mean East Wretham. About 5 miles NE from Thetford, Norfolk.
     

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