8 Pilot Sergeant Harry Newby RAF d 29 September 1938

Pilot Sgt Newby’s grave in Barrow Memorial to Bomber Command RAF Stradishall http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:R.A.F._Stradishall_Memorial_-_geograph.org.uk_-_386808.jpg

Sgt. Newby was killed in an unfortunate and unusual accident, when the wing fell off his aeroplane.

Flying Accident THE Air Ministry regrets to announce the following accidents: — Sgt.. Ronald Ashley Cowan, Sgt. Harry Newby, and A/C.2 Peter Asquith Corp, lost their lives in an accident which occurred at Keddington, near Stradishall, on September 29, to an aircraft of No.148 (B.) Squadron, Stradishall, Newmarket, , Sgt. Cowan was the pilot. From Flight magazine 6 October 1938 http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1938/1938%20-%202783.html

The Barrow News I October 1938 reported: BARROW MAN DIES IN BOMBER CRASH TRAGIC END TO R.A.F. SERVICE MACHINE WHICH LOST A WING The Air Ministry announced on Thursday night that three men had lost their lives when an R.A.F. bomber crashed and caught fire near Stradishall, Suffolk. One of them, Sergeant-Pilot Harry Newby, was the second son of Mr. and Mrs. G. Newby, of 37, Hibbert- road, Barrow, and had been stationed at Stradishall for a week only. The crash happened at Keddington, near the aerodrome, where villagers saw a wing break off the machine at a height of 400 feet, and the ‘plane plunge to the ground “with the speed of a shell”. One man attempted a parachute jump, but the height was insufficient for the parachute to open. When the machine hit the ground there was an explosion, followed by fire. The victims were Sergeant Ronald Ashley Cowan, the pilot, Sergeant Harry Newby and Aircraftman (2nd class) Peter Asquith Corp, attached to 148 Bomber Squadron, Stradishall, and they were returning to their home aerodrome when the crash occurred. It is believed that all three were killed instantly by the impact. EIGHT YEARS SERVICE Sergeant Newby, a former pupil at Victoria School and the Barrow Grammar School, was 23 years of age and had served with the R.A.F. since 1930, passing out at Cranwell as an aircraftman (1st class) and later becoming a leading aircraftman. In January 1936, he was posted to Khartoum, and for several months served in Palestine during the disturbances. He returned to Khartoum, and was later drafted to for training as a pilot. He was promoted to sergeant near the termination of his training, and last week was posted to Stradishall.

Memorial to those who served at RAF Stradishall 1938-70 This memorial to those who served at Stradishall is in the form of black marble tablets mounted on opposing faces of a massive brick plinth. The other tablet shows a map of the airfield, and a list of those units who served at Stradishall. 207 Squadron was at Stradishall flying Lancasters from November 1946 to February 1949, under Sqn Ldr Peter Boggis DFC and Sqn Ldr Guy Hogan DFC. It was unveiled by an ex-35 Sqn pilot whose crew room was opposite 207's - MRAF Sir Michael Beetham - on 29th May 1994. The Memorial is in the grounds of what is now HM Prison, Highpoint. http://www.207squadron.rafinfo.org.uk/othermems_strad.htm

The story of how a wing fell off an R.A.F. bomber before it crashed at killing its three crew was told at the inquest. The machine fell in a sanfoin field at Baythorne Lodge farm. Death by misadventure. http://www.foxearth.org.uk/1938-1939SuffolkFreePress.html

When I first published this document in 2016, I had thought that Newby’s plane was probably a Handley-Page Heyford1, a heavy, slow, biplane bomber.

Kevin Betts from the Kedington Air Memorial Group sent me two cuttings in Dec 2018 providing more information, and correcting my identification of the aircraft involved.

Harry Newby’s plane, a Vickers Wellesley, is at the centre of this cutting (left).

The Kedington Air Memorial Group is planning to erect a memorial to the accident and the crew involved, and to the other 4 air crashes affecting the parish. Their Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/kedingtonair/

The Vickers Wellesley first entered service in 1937, and in 1938 established a long-distance record for single-engined aircraft of 7000+ miles, flying from Egypt to Australia. However, they were quickly superseded by faster twin and four-engined aircraft.

1 http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/148squadron.cfm