On 5th October 1940 the crew of this No.14 Operational Training Unit aircraft took off from Cottesmore to carry out a night navigation exercise. The crew became lost in bad visibility (and with possibly a problem with the wireless set), the pilot descended through cloud to try and help the crew work out their position. Unfortunately they were still flying at low height at 20.20hrs when the aircraft struck the ground near How Tallon, a location roughly ten miles south of the main A66 road. The aircraft crashed through a stone wall and caught fire. The crew were able to get clear of the wreckage before the fire destroyed the aircraft though two of the crew had sustained broken bones in the crash. The four crew dragged themselves to a nearby shooting hut on the hilltop to await rescue. One presumes the other two, being less seriously injured, went for help.
Pilot - P/O Derrick John Fielder RAFVR (80837).
Second Pilot - Sgt Andrew Ogilvie Hawes RAF (745590). Injured. Broken arm.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Albert Charles White RAFVR (901934).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Reginald Wilfred Gray RAF (553874). Injured. Broken ankle.
Derrick Fielder was born on 17th June 1916 and was the son of John and Ethel Fielder. In the 1921 census his father is listed as being born at Walton on Thames, his mother born at Bristol while he and his sister Joyce were born at Wimbledon. In the 1939 register he appears living with his widowed father in Wimbledon, London, where he was working as a printing engineer but was also in the RAFVR. He had trained at No.6 Flying Training School and had gained his Wings in October 1939. On 9th May 1940 Sgt Fielder crashed 14 OTU's Hereford L6016 in Leicestershire whilst on a training exercise but escaped serious injury. He received a commission to the rank of P/O on probation on 18th June 1940 (with seniority of 25th April 1940). Following the accident on 5th October 1940 he recovered from slight injuries and completed his training to be posted to 83 Squadron. He was sadly killed on 28th December 1940 when Hampden P2097 was flying in failed to return from a raid on Lorient with 83 Squadron. By this stage he appears to have been dropped as a pilot and was now a navigator. Hampden P2097 crashed in Berkshire with the loss of the four crew. He is buried Chislehurst Churchyard, Kent. He was twenty four years old. The photograph of his gravestone was posted to the internet by "Julia&Keld". He is listed on a Rhodesian Aircrew roll of honour website which would suggest a family link to South Africa.
Reginald Gray was born on 1st July 1922 at Newcastle and was the son of David and Laure Marcelle (nee Henaut) Gray. F/Sgt Reginald Gray was killed on 31st August 1941 flying with 207 Squadron when Manchester L7316 failed to return from Ops to Cologne. He is buried in Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany. He was still just nineteen years old. In the 1939 Register his parents were living in Middlesbrough but by the time the CWGC created their records his parents were living at Southport, Lancashire.
Andrew Hawes was born on 23rd February 1918 in London and was the of Herbert Joseph and Kate (nee Robinson) Hawes. His father was a director of the East Indian Merchants by the 1939 Register.
In June 2007 I visited the crash site and on the way to the site I bumped into the the farmer of the land who recounted his memories of the incident and where the site was. The wall was later rebuilt and the burnt area had recovered fairly well in the years since the crash. I would like to thank the farmer for his help and time assisting me with this research. I did not get his name. I revisited to re-photograph the site in Autumn 2016 and very little had changed.
Hampden P2072 was built to contract 952962/38 by the English Electric Company Ltd. at Samlesbury and was awaiting collection in March 1940. It was allotted to 24 M.U. on22nd April 1940 and was received by them on 16th May 1940. After a period of MU storage it was taken on charge by 14 O.T.U. at Cottesmore on 7th August 1940. On 3rd September 1940 it was slightly damaged in a taxiing accident at "No.8 Dispersal Field" with P/O Carpenter at the controls. On 27th September 1940 it was being taxied at Cottesmore at night when it collided with the stationary Anson N9849 with S/Ldr Oldfield at the controls of the Hampden. Both incidents must only have resulted in minor Cat.A damage was repairable on site and neither were recorded on the aircraft's AM Form 78. Following the accident in the Pennines on 5th October 1940 Cat.W/FA damage was recorded and the aircraft written off. The aircraft was struck off charge on 16th October 1940.