PB4Y-1 Liberator Bu. No.63934 of VB 110 USN crashed on Broken Ground near Mossley 18th December 1943
George Charno Jnr | Lieutenant (JG) | Pilot | OK |
Robert G. Wissman | Lieutenant (JG) | Co-pilot | OK |
Cecil R. Colyer | Ensign | Navigator | OK |
Walter O. Levering | AMM 3 | Signaller | OK |
Douglas S. Peterson | ACRM | Radio Operator | OK |
Archie P. Oliver | ARM 3 | Radio Operator | OK |
Warran W. Olson | AOM 3 | Gunner | OK |
Dewey M. Clark | Seaman 2nd Class | Gunner | OK |
William J. Clayton | Seaman 2nd Class | ? | OK |
Winston C. Ketchem | AMM 1 | Gunner | OK |
Boyd S. Barber | ACRM | Radio Operator | OK |
The crew had been carrying out an anti U-Boat patrol over the Bay of Biscay from their home station at Dunkeswell in Devon. On returning they found that the station was fog bound and were advised to divert to RAF Beaulieu. Similar weather conditions existed here but they were preparing to land using a QGH approach when they lost radio contact. After this the crew headed north in the hope of finding an airfield that was not obscured by cloud or fog. By the time they had reached the north east Midlands around Lincolnshire the aircraft was all but out of fuel and when the pilots calculated the aircraft had about another 15 minutes of fuel the crew were ordered to bale out. All came down safely, while the aircraft (being flown by its primitive auto-pilot system) continued on flying in a westerly direction for some distance before eventually consuming its remaining fuel and crashing on the open hillside above Mossley.



