Old photograph of the Christening of a Wellington Bomber...1940

[spanner570]

I dug this picture up yesterday, whilst sorting through our 'office' - Which is really just another junk room!

It was in my late mum and dad's photo collection. At the start of WW2 my dad was in the RAF Regiment charged with guarding the Broughton Factory and Airfield nr. Chester (Now Aerospace)
Hence the picture.
Take a close look at the beer bottle about to be used for the christening, and see the stuff on the fuselage to prevent impact damage! It looks like the lady is about to loosen off the rope around the propeller too.
I note the Welsh Dragon flag is there too....

As an aside, the joiner with whom I was apprenticed to, helped build the Wellington at Broughton and later on in the war, the plywood Mosquito. He recalled many a tale about the goings on in the dark of the finished aircraft with the women at the factory - To promote the war effort, no doubt!

I hope the image is of some general interest to you good people.



Cheers,
Ron

[stillp]

Great photo Ron. I thought when I read the description that it was going to be one of your dioramas!
Pete

[saguy]

very interesting pic .. would be interesting to know the record of the aircraft and ultimately what became of it. nice to see the formal christening via the bottle of beer and then the more informal stuff just to help things along ......

[stona]

Great picture of the 'Broughton Wellington'.

This was a 'donation' aircraft. Most people know that Spitfire funds had to provide £5,000 for a Spitfire (or other single engine aircraft) but it is less well known that larger sums could 'buy' a larger aircraft. The official figure for a twin was £20,000, but the Broughton workforce seem to have got a discount, stumping up £15,000 of their hard earned Welsh pounds for this Wellington. This was still a very considerable sum in 1940.

The aircraft pictured is R1333 which did not enjoy a long and illustrious career, flying for just forty two days.

Operated by No 99 Squadron, coded LF-B “Bertie”, it took off on the evening of 18th December 1940 from RAF Newmarket, the target being Ludwigshafen or Mannheim (I'm not sure, there is some confusion*). The Wellington failed to become probably airborne and crashed at 21.28 hrs on the edge of Newmarket hitting Devil’s Dyke. The Dyke is a 7.5 mile long earthwork which apparently is almost thirty feet high in some sections.

There was a dramatic as well as tragic end to this story. Pilot Officer Morian Hansen, also of 99 Squadron and a Danish speedway rider who volunteered in 1939 for service in the RAF, was in charge of the flarepath at Newmarket airfield and observed the crash. He immediately jumped into a vehicle and drove to the crash scene. He entered the burning aircraft, still loaded with bombs, and managed to bring one of the crew, Sergeant Cliff Hendy, to safety. He then returned a second time to the burning aircraft and saved another crew member, Sgt George Lea. The rest of the crew perished in the accident. They were Flight Lieutenant Glencairn Sholto Ogilvie, Pilot Officer Arthur Patnell Pritchard (RNZAF), Sergeant Rupert James Bowden and Sergeant William Edwin Herbert Boast.

On 19 March 1941, Morian Hansen received an Honorary Award of the George Medal for this incident.

*Bomber Command's War Diary only lists Mannheim. I believe Ludwigshafen comes from No. 99 Squadron records. It doesn't really matter as we are talking about two targets which are very close together, literally on opposite banks of the Rhine.

[adt70hk]

Great picture Ron. Thanks for sharing.

ATB.

Andrew

[Tim Marlow]

Great picture which would make a nice diorama. Thanks to Steve for the aircraft history as well.....

[spanner570]

Thanks for the interest chaps, and yes, a special thank you to Steve for the information about the aircraft's short life and the heroics of Hansen.

[stona]

Just to add, if Ron doesn't mind, a picture of Hansen. If ever a man deserved a George Medal (honorary because as a Dane he was not a Commonwealth citizen) it was him.



He passed away, aged 90, in 1995.

[spanner570]

Never mind the George Medal, the V.C would have been more appropriate.

Stupid rules. He risked his own life to rescue fellow human beings- and Brits to boot, for heaven's sake.

Thanks again Steve for the great additions to the thread.

[stona]

Never mind the George Medal, the V.C would have been more appropriate.

He couldn't have been awarded a VC even if he was a Commonwealth citizen, not "in the face of the enemy" and all that.

I reckon there might have been a case for the George Cross, but the George Medal was a new gong, instituted on 24 September 1940, and I expect the King was keen to give one away

Anyway you look at it, Hansen was an extremely brave man and he certainly risked his life to save two others. I'm not sure I can look anyone in the eye and say that I would run into a blazing, bomb laden wreck to help people (Hendy had broken both legs and was unable to save himself). Hansen did it twice.

The Wellington that took off after the ill fated R1333 flew over the scene. It's pilot Michael Henderson was able to see the results of the crash.

“On climbing away, we saw the aircraft blow up, we saw explosions take place and the air was filled with bullets exploding in all directions and flares going off.”

None of which deterred Hansen!

[Tim Marlow]

That is true heroism!

[langy71]

Excellent picture indeed, and that image that would make a brilliant diorama..

[stona]

I wonder who the people in the picture are? We'd probably need to find some local press report.
Since the workforce raised the cash I assume that means that they are representing them. In those days it probably means they are the bosses and the chairman's wife

[spanner570]

I'll have a bash at finding something out. As I wrote it's from my late mum and dad's collection.
The photo would probably have appeared in one of two local Chester newspapers( perhaps both) - The Chester Chronicle or the Chester Observer.

Perhaps the De Havilland archives will reveal something.

How about all the interested members on here doing a bit of sleuthing? Give us all summat to do these dark, winter nights!

[stona]

I've seen a picture of Eva Braun wearing a hat just like that......but I doubt that it's her