8 January 1945 – 105 (T) OTU RAF Bramcote – Vickers Wellington X – NC954 – F/L J F Johnstone – Duty Training.
Location – On road near T junction of Wootton, Ulceby and Croxton Road 1¼ miles south south west of Wootton
Took off from Bramcote Warwickshire for a training flight. Crashed at 1320. Starboard engine caught fire and the dinghy released from the wing exacerbating the problem. With only one engine running the aircraft lost height and he was possibly trying to make an emergency landing at Kirmington. However this has proved impossible and the pilot attempted a wheels up landing in a field about 2 miles short of the airfield. On approach at low level he had to take avoiding action to miss a house and the aircraft is reported to have struck a telegraph pole and crashed onto the road.
In the early 1950s the Ordnance Survey map of the area shows pylons with electricity transmission cables running across the road at this point and it seems likely that the aircraft hit these and not a telegraph pole.
Since the war the road at this T junction has changed. The junction has been replaced by a wide sweeping bend which runs from Ulceby to Croxton with a minor road heading north towards Wootton
The pilot, F/L J F Johnstone, was badly injured. The co-pilot, W/O D Shaw, was uninjured as was at least one other.
F/O P R Armstrong RAFVR baled out at 700 ft and was killed when his parachute did not open fully in time
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F/O Peter Ronald Armstrong RAFVR – Wireless Operator – 20 – 105 (T) OTU - Son of Percy William and Hilda Elizabeth Armstrong of Pinner – Pinner Cemetery, Middlesex.
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Above - A crop from the 1947 OS map showing Ulceby Croxton and Wootton. The red circle indicates my estimation of the location of the crash. The blue arrow shows the electricity pylons
Below photos of the T junction referred to above as it is now.
Above - B1211 to Ulceby
Above - B1211 to Croxton
Above - Road to Wootton from the B1211
Above - Junction in its present form showing sign
Compiled by David Fell. Photos from my archive
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