Blackburn Botha Mk.I L6318 of No.3 School of General Reconnaissance crashed on Tal-y-Fan in the Carneddau on the 23rd August 1942

 

Herford Linton Pendal Warrant Officer (*) Pilot Killed
Robert Wilmore Patrick RNZAF Sergeant Navigator / Bomb Aimer Killed
John Bernard Wood RNZAF Sergeant Navigator / Bomb Aimer Killed
Ronald Ibbetson Aircraftman 1st Class Wireless Operator Killed
Andrew Smyth Aircraftman 1st Class Wireless Operator Killed

(*) Contemporary records show Pendal as a Flight Sergeant, it is probable that he was due to be promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer and this was applied after his death and is indicated by the CWGC. This was a common occurrence with RCAF & RAAF personnel.

On the 23rd August 1942 Botha L6318 took off from RAF Squires Gate near Blackpool in Lancashire for a navigation exercise, at some point in the flight the aircraft entered low cloud and while flying over the coastal area of North Wales struck the north eastern slopes of Tal-y-Fan above the Conwy valley. All five of the crew were killed in the crash, it was the following day before the crash site was located and the bodies of the crew were recovered by a search party from No.9 AOS at RAF Penrhos.

Crash site of Blackburn Botha Mk.I L6318 on Tal-y-Fan near Conwy
Above is the crash site of Botha L6318 on the north east flank of Tal-y-Fan above the Conwy valley.
Wreckage found at the crash site of Blackburn Botha Mk.I L6318 on Tal-y-Fan near Conwy, Snowdonia
Lying in one of the small streams which crosses the crash site were a few small fragments of wreckage, this is one of the larger of those.
Wreckage found at the crash site of Blackburn Botha Mk.I L6318 on Tal-y-Fan near Conwy, Snowdonia
The largest piece that was found at the site, lying in some gorse, was this piece of skinning.

Three of the aircraft’s crew were buried at Caernarfon (Llanbeblig) Cemetery, they were:

Grave of Sergeant Robert Wilmore Patrick RNZAF at Caernarfon Cemetery, killed in Blackburn Botha L6318 on Tal-y-Fan, Snowdonia
Sergeant Robert Wilmore Patrick, RNZAF.
Grave of Aircraftman 1st Class Andrew Smyth at Caernarfon Cemetery, killed in Blackburn Botha L6318 on Tal-y-Fan, Snowdonia
Sergeant John Bernard Wood, RNZAF.
Grave of Sergeant John Bernard Wood RNZAF at Caernarfon Cemetery, killed in Blackburn Botha L6318 on Tal-y-Fan, Snowdonia
Aircraftman 1st Class Andrew Smyth, RAFVR.

The two other members of the crew were buried in cemeteries elsewhere in the UK, Pendal at New Southgate Cemetery in London and Ibbetson at Colne Cemetery in Lancashire.