28 September 1943 – 166 Squadron, RAF Kirmington – Avro Lancaster III – ED875 - W/O Cecil J W Boone RAFVR – Op Hanover.
Location - Probably Caen Hill north east of Caistor, Lincs.
The 166 Sqn ORB states that “The aircraft took off from Kirmington at 19.43. It returned early and the crew was given permission to land. It was heard to reply “Landing “ and at 23.24 a crash was reported south of Caistor which was confirmed to be this aircraft. All the crew were killed”. The site of the crash is mentioned as Cain Hill in Chorley BC Losses 1943 but I suspect this is actually Caen Hill which is north east of Caistor and in the region of Pelham's Pillar which is a well known local landmark.
In addition the 166 Sqn ORB Summary of Events states that on the 27th September weather for take off, en route and over the target was good but conditions deteriorated badly on return with cloud down to 900 ft accompanied by heavy rain and a strong squally wind. It also mentions Boone's aircraft crashed whilst attempting to land at Caistor which was a grass field with no hard runways. Hardly a promising airfield for a night emergency landing.
The 1 Gp ORB adds further confusion to this by suggesting that the loss was due to Luftwaffe intruder activity which was very troublesome from time to time.
I shall be interested to hear if anyone has any more definite information re this incident.
The crew was as follows :-
W/O Cecil Jack Walton Boone RAFVR – Pilot - 23 – 166 Sqn - Son of Jack and Olive Emily Boone, of Bury St. Edmunds; husband of Olive Boone, of Moreton Hall, Bury St. Edmunds – Bury St Edmunds Cemetery, Suffolk.
An old boy of Culford School he was a sorting clerk and telegraphist at Bury St Edmunds Post Office before joining the RAF in 1940. He married Olive Booth who also worked for the Post Office
Sgt Douglas Lowain Bick RAF – Flight Engineer - 23 – 166 Sqn - Son of Harold George and Mabel Bick, of Bolton – Bolton ( Heaton ) Cemetery, Lancashire.
Sgt Ernest A Pack RAFVR – Navigator – 166 Sqn - Hornchurch Cemetery, London Borough of Havering.
Sgt Thomas Warhurst RAFVR – Air Bomber - 27 – 166 Sqn - Son of Thomas and Mary Warhurst and husband of Jane Warhurst of Sheffield - Sheffield City Road Cemetery, South Yorkshire.
Sgt Ronald Davis RAFVR - Wireless Operator / Air Gunner – 21 – Son of Henry James Davis and of Francis Marie Davis, of Islington London; husband of Beatrice Maud Davis, of Islington - Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire.
Sgt James Patrick Nyland RAFVR ( pictured below ) - Air Gunner - 23 – 166 Sqn - Son of James and Ellen Nyland, of Castlebar - Castlebar Catholic Cemetery, Republic of Ireland.
Sgt George Russell Smith RCAF – Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - 29 – 166 Sqn - - Son of William McGuffie Smith and Agnes Martin Smith, of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire.
Sgt James Patrick Nyland RAFVR
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The Squadron had converted to Lancasters on the 21st September and Boone's crew had flown one other operation with the Squadron on the 23/24th September 1943 to Hanover. This crew were probably one of several posted in at this time from other Squadrons or direct from a training unit.
Compiled by David Fell with Lancaster photo from my archive and the Nyland pic courtesy of the RAFA
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