Handley Page Hampden Mk.I AE381 of No.50 Squadron, RAF, crashed at Cluther Rocks on Kinder 21st January 1942 in a blizzard

 

Royal George Heron Sergeant RAAF Pilot Killed
Walter Chantler Williams Sergeant Navigator Killed
William Thomas Tromans Sergeant Wireless Op./ Air gunner Killed
Sydney Albert Peters Sergeant Air gunner Killed

 

The crew of AE381 were on a training flight from Skellingthorpe near Lincoln in weather not fit for flying, with high winds and blinding snow.  After becoming lost on a night cross country navigation exercise the crew made radio contact with Ringway.  They had over flown the airfield along the line of a now disused runway but had not been able to see anything due the snow and darkness, a radio message was sent to the pilot instructing him to turn through 180o to make another pass over the airfield, before this turn could be executed the aircraft flew into the western edge of Kinder where it burst into flames and was totally destroyed.

Crash site of Handley Page Hampden Mk.I AE381 at Cluther Rocks, Kinder Scout, Hayfield
A photo looking west from the crash site on the edge of Kinder, in the background is Kinder Reservoir.
Wreckage at the crash site of Handley Page Hampden Mk.I AE381 at Cluther Rocks, Kinder Scout, Hayfield
One of two small collections of wreckage at the crash site, there are other small fragments spread about the area.
Mick Peters placing the memorial at the crash site of Handley Page Hampden AE381 at Cluther Rocks, Kinder Scout
On the 14th February 2004 Mick Peters, nephew of Sidney Peters, placed a slate memorial plaque at the site bearing the details of the aircraft and crew.
Memorial plaque at the crash site of Handley Page Hampden AE381 at Cluther Rocks, Kinder Scout, Derbyshire
Memorial plaque at the crash site of Handley Page Hampden AE381 at Cluther Rocks, Kinder Scout, Derbyshire
Sergeant Sidney Peters
Below is a photograph of Sidney Peters.
Image Copyright Mick Peters.
Sergeant Sidney Peters
The photograph below shows Sydney Peters while most likely at an Air Gunners’ School since all of the people in the picture are air gunners, he is seated in the middle row on the left hand end. However it could also have been an intake photograph from an OTU as some would photograph each intake of each trade.
Image via Mick Peters.
Grave of Sergeant Royal George Heron, Pilot, at Manchester Southern Cemetery
The crew were buried at various locations in the UK, Sergeant Heron was buried at Manchester Southern Cemetery. Unlike many of the service burials in this cemetery he has an individual headstone