Handley Page Harrow K7005, December 14th, 1943
The afternoon of December 14th 1943 would see the death of four young airmen of the Royal Air Force on a bleak hillside on the Innishowen peninsula in County Donegal.
Research begun by Ian Woodford, the great-nephew of Albert Edward James, one of the men on the aircraft, resulted in the tracking down of families of all four airmen who died and also contacting the sole survivor of the terrible crash.
This page is to remember the men in their photos collected during the research
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Wireless Operator (Killed on Active Service) Son of George Harry and Elsie Mabel Brown, of Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire |
Pilot (Injured on Active Service) |
Navigator (Killed on Active Service) Son of Arthur and Mary Ann Shaw, of Hazel Grove |
(Killed on Active Service) Son of Albert John and Ellen Ada James, of Evesham |
(Killed on Active Service) Son of Jack and Rose Hannah Taberner; husband of Alice Taberner, of Prenton |
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The above panoramic image from my old camera shows the location of the crash to the left and the cottage at the right where James Swaby went after the crash. |
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In December 2006, I was contacted by Ian Woodford from near Evesham. His mother is the niece of Albert (also Bert) Edward James. We contacted a team of people here in Ireland and between us we managed contact all the families involved. Anne Tierney of Tuam and the intrepid researcher of Halifax EB134, discovered that John William Swaby, the sole survivor of the crash, was alive and well in Leeds. The brother of John Taberner, Bert Taberner stilled lived near his birthplace near Liverpool. Bert has since passed away but he was delighted to have been contacted about his brother and informed in detail about how he lost his life. The local Vicars in Hazel Grove, Cheshire were able to put us in touch with the nephew of Arthur Bain Shaw. And after much searching, relatives of Carol Brown were found via Ancestry.com and his family tree.
The airmen were flying at the time with 271 Squadron which was based at RAF Doncaster. The squadron operated both Handley Page HP54 Harrow and Douglas Dakota transports. The H.P. Harrow was by then a rather old twin engine, high wing aircraft, a former bomber design. The fist prototype had flown in October 1936 and the aircraft was largely outdated by the time the war started. It served in small numbers as a transport during the war. The construction of the Harrow is explained in some detail in a May 20th, 1937 article in Flight magazine, describing the methods of putting together the mixed, metal, wood and fabric structure of the aircraft.
The Irish Army report on the crash records the following about
the aftermath of the crash, in a memo from the G2, Army
Intelligence Branch in Western Command to G2 Headquarters in
Dublin:
"I beg to inform you that the above mentioned
plane-crash took place on 14/12/1943 at 14:00 hours
approximately.
The plane, which was unarmed, took off that morning from
Eglinton, apparently to return to its home base which was
Doncaster, and crashed on top of Crocknasmug Mountain
(1,076 ft high), 4 miles NW off Innishowen head, Co.
Donegal in dense fog.
Search parties which consisted of Gardai, L.S.F. and a
military party from Fort Lenan experienced great
difficulty in locating the crashed plane and rescuing the
crew, 4 of whom were killed and one injured.
The dead, who were taken to a nearby house, were later
taken to Buncrana Military Post."
P/O Swaby was taken to Carndonagh hospital that
evening and was taken then by RAF Ambulance to Northern Ireland
on December 15th. It was not entirely clear from the file
but the four dead airmen appear to have been brought to the
border on December 15th also and handed over to the authorities
there.
The ORB of RAF Northern Ireland recorded the following about
the crash:
1410 14th "A Harrow of No. 44 GROUP on
a flight from EGLINTON to PORT ELLEN crashed at 17.10
hours on CROCKNASMUG MOUNTAIN, a mile west of INISHOWEN
HEAD. Of the crew of five, four were killed but the
pilot, P/O PIVABY. who was only injured, was brought back to
ROE VALLEY HOSPITAL, LIMAVADY, by a party from
LIMAVADY who also received the bodies from BUNCRANA to be
sent to England. The a/c itself was too badly damaged for
any of it to be salvaged.
It was not uncommon for early reports in military files to
contain name and place spelling errors.
Martin Gleeson, another Irish researcher, looked at the 271 Squadron records for the period around December 1943. At that time they were flying general cargo transport missions around the United Kingdom. On the day of the accident, Harrow K7005 was taking off from RAF Eglinton in Northern Ireland. It is not clear from the Squadron diary what the purpose of the flight was, but since no mention was made of cargo in the Irish Army reports, it is assumed it was returning from a cargo mission to the airfield. P/O Swaby was noted on December 5th 1943 as going on a detachment to Errol in Scotland with Harrow K7005. At that time, the squadron was operating aircraft to and from various airfields carrying freight. There were also aircraft sent on detachments to various airfields around the UK for similar duties. They would, for example, assist combat squadrons in transferring between bases. The Irish Military recorded the time of the crash as 13:30hrs. A search team of Irish Army Soldiers and Gardaí (The Irish Police) took to the hills in an effort to find the crash. The aircraft would have been heard flying over by the local police and military posts. The Irish military report above comments on the poor conditions at the time.
According to the information provided by Martin Gleeson from the 271 Squadron records, the weather on that day was very foggy. His determination is that the aircraft flew out across Lough Foyle and impacted onto a 1056ft high hill called Cnocnasmug (also known as Crock-na-smug).
The 271 Squadron Operations Record Book carries a number of
records of what happened in the days after the crash.
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Doncaster:
14 Dec 1943
15:30 Information received that Sparrow K.7005
overdue. Captain P/O. J.W. Swaby. Aircraft
operating on ERROL detachment.
15 Dec 1943
12:00 K.7005 apparently crashed into INISHOWEN HEAD
on 14.12.43, time not known. Captain injured seriously
and crew P/O. C.H. Brown (W/Op), F/Sgt. A.B. Shaw (Nav),
LAC. Taberner, J.T., LACV. James, A. all killed. No
casualty signal received but R.A.F. EGLINTON and
R.A.F. LIMAVADY contacted and requested to expedite.
Bodied being collected by R.A.F. LIMAVADY for possible
collection by this unit. Telegrams to next of kin
dispatched under C.A.
18:30 In absence of Casualty signal for K.7005,
signal originated by this unit giving all information
possible. During the day units and Group in Northern
Ireland were contacted but no further information available.
16 Dec 1943
10:00 letters dispatched to next of kin crew K.7005
requesting wishes regarding funeral arrangements.
14:00 Preliminary Form 765C for K.7005 originated and
despatched.
Information received that deceased personnel are in mortuary
at LIMAVADY and P/O. J.W. Swaby seriously injured in ROE
VALLEY HOSPITAL nearby. Amendments to F.A.
Signal originated and dispatched to all addresses. Air
Ministry P.4 (Cas) had been on the telephone requesting
this.
16:00 S/Ldr. I.C. Murison to proceed N.Ireland in
Dominie a.m. 17.12.43 to pin point K.7005 on map and obtain
from LIMAVADY all information, personal kit and documents
available.
17 Dec 1943
11:00 Departure of S/Ldr. I.C. Murison held up by
fog. Vis. approx. 600 yards.
12:00 Signal dispatched LIMAVADY giving all
particulars of deceased personnel and instructing them to
despatch bodies of F/Sgt. Shaw and LAC. Taberner and LAC.
James to home addresses. P/O. C.H. Brown is to be
given a service burial.
18 Dec 1943
11:00 S/Ldr. I.C. Murison again unable to proceed and
arrangements made for travel by rail and boat with F/O J.C.
White.
19 Dec 1943
09:30 F/Lt. R.H.J. Mountford (X.7411) proceeded to
SEALAND. Officer visiting LAC. Taberner’s wife at
STOCKPORT concerning her husband’s death.
14:00 Policy letter regarding flying of aircraftman
on Transport Details issued to all flights. With
effect from today ACs. will only fly when aircraft
proceeding on detachment. Acs. will then be based and
will not fly with aircraft on jobs. ACs. will not be
taken when aircraft have no set base.
21 Dec 1943
10:42 F/O. Shakes & 2 ACs proceeded EVESHAM by
rail for funeral LAC JAMES. F/O Jarvis made
arrangements in conjunction with S.H.Q. for funeral P/O C.H.
Brown 22.12.43.
22 Dec 1943
W/O Robertson proceeded STOCKPORT by rail for F/Sgt. SHAWs
funeral. RAF WILMSLOW providing bearers.
10:42 P/O Topham & 2 ACs proceeded BIRKENHEAD by
rail for LAC TABERNERS funeral. RAF BIRKENHEAD
providing Bearers.
13:20 Funeral P/O BROWN left mortuary for Station
Church, thence CANTLAY BRIDGE Cemetery for internment.
12:30 F/O. Shakes & 2 ACs returned from funeral LAC
JAMES
24 Dec 1943
P/O Topham & 2 ACs returned from funeral LAC TABERNER at
Birkenhead,
W/O Robertson returned from F/Sgt. Shaw’s funeral at
STOCKPORT.
28 Dec 1943
09:30 F/O McLeod (X7519) departed for EGLINTON –
TD1163. To report to President of Court of Inquiry on
accident to Sparrow K.7005.
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James William Swaby was the son of Frank and Mary
Swaby of Leeds, where his father was Chief Constable in the
cities police.
James sailed to Montreal at the start of August 1939 with a
party of late teenaged students. It is not clear when or
if he returned to the UK but he was back in America in 1941, as
part of Course Number 2 training at Falcon Field in
Arizona. He provided many photos to a book about British
training activities at that location, The RAF in Arizona: Falcon
Field, 1941-1945 by Dawson, Jim. That group of pilot
graduated in December
His father received the following letter, dated 23 December
1943, from what appears to be a Doncaster Police Force
acquaintance, also named Frank:
Dear Frank,
As promised I have just visited Jimmie's Station
Officer - Wing Commander Crichton-Beggie - a very charming
and helpful fellow.
He told me that Jimmie was one of the most fortunate of
men but he was pleased that he was not more seriously hurt,
as he was very fond of the boy.
It appears that injured persons are placed in three
categories - dangerously ill, which speaks for itself
seriously ill or just "ill" and Jimmie is now in the last
category.
He informed me that Jimmie had a compressed spine and
would be in plaster for some time. It would seem that this
type of injury is very common amongst flying men, in fact,
he, the C.O., had had a fractured neck and was in plaster
for a long time, but now he is quite well and fit again. He
looks it, too.
Many flying men suffer these fractures or compressions
but they fully recover, in fact, many of them are now flying
again.
He sent a Squadron Leader and another Officer over to
see Jimmie in Ireland, and when they return he is going to
let me know just how Jimmie is. I will let you know
immediately what he tells me. I understand that they
are hoping to fly Jimmie back to this country.
By the way, it is interesting to note that Jimmie
crashed inside the Irish Free State, but he was whipped off
into Ulster, where he now is. As far as I can see by the
map, Jimmie crashed in Donegal somewhere north of
Londonderry, and they slipped him over the border into
Ulster. Thank God they did or he might have been
interned.
No doubt Jimmie will confirm or deny this when
you see him, which I hope won't be long now.
I think Jimmie should be happy on this Station
for despite the fact that it is a lousy morning here,
the Officers and men I have just seen are the most cheerful
I have met for some time.
Kind regards, Frank,
At the same time, the Swaby's received a letter
from a Reverend John McGettigan in Bradford, whose brother lived
in Moville and had to him telling of the plane crash in a letter
and that the pilot was named Swaby and his father was chief of
police in Leeds! Rev McGettigan wrote to assure the Swaby's that
their son was alive and was in Carndonagh Hospital, and that he
would visit him in the new year if he was still in hospital.
Many Yorkshire newspapers carried news of James' survival, and
example is shown here from the Yorkshire Evening Post of 16th
December 1943.
Ian Woodford was able to speak with James Swaby in January 2007
and made the following notes from that coversation:
P/O Swaby was the pilot, and there was
a navigator and wireless operator on board. This was the
standard crew for the Harrow. Also on board were a fitter
and a rigger which were taken everywhere because they were
the only ones who knew how to maintain the aircraft (It
being such an old type).
The aircraft was flying from Eglinton
to Macra Hannish (?), in the Hebrides, when it crashed. P/O
Swaby doesn’t remember the crash at all. The first thing he
remembers is coming out of unconsciousness and finding
himself upside down still strapped into his seat, and he has
a recollection of seeing the tailplane close by. He
struggled to undo the harness and get out of his seat, but
then remembers his one thought was to get help and get down
the mountain. He remembers thinking that he should find a
stream because they always lead you down hill, but he
couldn’t find one anywhere. He suspects this was because the
place was all peat. After wandering around he eventually
found a road. He followed the road down hill and came to a
cottage, but it was empty. He continued down the road and
came to a second cottage where they took him in and warmed
him up. He recalls that he wasn’t burnt from the crash –
there was no fire – but his feet were burned by the family
looking after him when they tried to warm his feet using a
pan lid off the peat fire! He doesn’t think he ever knew the
name of the family, and has never been back to Ireland.
An ambulance came and took him to what
he recalls to have been Buncrana Hospital. An RAF ambulance
then came to take him to N.I. and he recalls how the medics
had to wear civvy jackets. It transpired that P/O Swaby had
fractured his spine in the crash and subsequently spent 6
months in hospital recovering. Following this period of
recuperation he spent a few months instructing on a Search
and Rescue Sqn, then was invalided out of the RAF.
P/O Swaby didn’t recall seeing any of
the bodies of the other crew members at the crash site.
P/O Swaby's daughter was kind enough to send a copy of this
photo belonging to her father which shows one of the squadrons
Harrow aircraft with airmen in the foreground
James Swaby passed away in July 2014 having assisted greatly in
telling the story of his crash in Donegal.
Arthur Bain SHAW
The Stockport Express on 25 March 1943 carried an article about
a local man which made mention of Arthur.
Another Hazel Grove boy,
Sergeant-Observer Arthur Shaw, of 8 Chatsworth-road, who is
attached to Ferry Command, has several times been in the
same district as Sergeant Jones, but although Leslie has
tried to get in touch with him, they have just missed each
other on each occasion.
And he is found on shipping records
arriving in New York City on a Trans-Canada Airline flight
from Toronto on 30 April 1942. No. 1 Air Navigation
School is provided as his last residence.
Carol Herbert Brown was born in 1919 near
Aldershot to George Harry and Elsie Mabel Brown. The 1939
Register finds the family living at their 9 Lindum Road address
in Cleethorps and more than helpfully records that Carol, a bank
clerk was also an Leading Aircraftman in the along with his
serial number! Not only that but it gives his father prior
wartime service details also, having served from 1908 to 1920 in
the 2nd Manchester Regiment. Also present are Carol's
sisters Cynthia and Louisa.
The Grimsby Evening Telegraph on Thursday, December 30th,
posted a death notice:-
Brown Pilot
Officer Carol Herbert Brown aged 24 only son of Mr and Mrs G
H Brown 9 Lindum Road Cleethorpes buried at Rosehill
Cemetery Doncaster
The Brown family were also able to provide this photo, marked on the back as 'B' Flight Instructors, 19 March 1942. It is not known at this time if Carol Brown was with 271 Squadron at that time or another unit. The names are, left to right. Sgt. Kelly, Sgt Ratcliffe, P/O Daley, F/Sgt Brown, F/Sgt Bryant, F/Sgt Cartwright.
LAC Albert Edward
James was born in 1918 to Albert John and Ellen Ada (nee
Haddleton) James of Evesham.
He is found on the 1939 Register, living with his sister, Ellen
Edna James, at 70 Bewdley Street in Evesham. Their mother
had died in 1936.
He was remembered by his local newspaper, the The Tewkesbury
Register on 25 December 1943.
EVESHAM AIRMAN KILLED
L.A.C. ALBERT JAMES
Mrs. E. Keen, of 70. Bewdley-street, Evesham, has this week
received the sad news that her brother. L.A.C. Albert Edward
James, R.A.F. has been killed while on active service. He
was 25 years of age.
The only son of the late Mr. and Mrs. A. James, also of
Bewdley-street, he joined the R.A.F. shortly after the
outbreak of war and was serving in lreland. He was
educated at Merstow Green Schools and became a keen
footballer. Prior to his entry into the R.A.F. he was
employed at the Evesham Branch of the Worcester Cooperative
Society (Bakery Department) and made many friends there.
Much sympathy will be felt for Mrs. Keen with whom he made
his home for several years.
His sister was Ellen Edna Keen
Compiled by Dennis Burke, 2020, Dublin and Sligo with the aid of all those listed above. If you have information on any of the people listed above, please do contact me at dp_burke@yahoo.com