Addition to RAF Wellington Crash at Dhadnah
The RAF Wellington Crash at Dhadnah
Tribulus (2006) Vol. 15.2
In Tribulus 14.1, in our paper on World War Two aeroplane crashes in the Emirates (1), reference was made to the crash of an RAF Wellington bomber at Dhadnah, on the coastline of Fujairah. In that paper, it was noted that
"The precise identity of this aircraft remains a mystery. No record other than that cited above (from the Archives of the British Residency in the Gulf) [2], has yet been traced, although it seems likely that this Wellington was one of the later, more powerful versions (e.g. the Mark X) that were widely used by the RAF Coastal Command in the Middle East in the War."
As a result of enquiries made through the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi, further information has now been obtained from the records branch of the Royal Air Force in Britain. Relevant extracts from an e-mail from Ms. Sue Dickinson, of the RAF records branch, are as follows:
"Our records show that the aircraft in question was Wellington Bomber Mark 1C serial number HX748. The aircraft was on the strength of the Aircraft Delivery Unit, No. 4 Ferry Control Unit, Middle East Command. On 13 February 1943, Wellington HX748 landed at the Staging Post, RAF Sharjah. The aircraft was refuelled and inspected. At 0900hrs (local time) on 14 February 1943, the aircraft took off and, after circling the aerodrome to gain height, set course over the mountains at 6,500 feet.
Approximately 30 minutes later, when over the sea, the pilot noticed a small trickle of oil on the reduction gear casing of the Port Engine. This coupled with a visibility of only 2 miles made him decide to return to Sharjah. After about 7 minutes of the return journey, the Port Propeller flew off the engine. The pilot immediately cut the switches of this engine and, losing height, was forced to land on a rocky strip of coast, with the result that the aircraft was badly damaged and the navigator killed.
On the evening of 16 February a message was received that the missing aircraft had been located at Saih Dhadnah (25 degrees 33 minutes North 56 degrees 22 minutes East). This place was inaccessible by land or air and the Naval Authorities were asked to arrange for the rescue of the crew.
On the morning of 17 February, an aircraft from No. 244 Squadron took off to view the scene of the crash and drop supplies. This aircraft reported that the Wellington was badly damaged but four members of the crew were apparently uninjured.
On 22 February three members of the crew were landed at Sharjah, the fourth survivor, the passenger, remaining on board the Naval Vessel HMS Capetown in order to continue his journey to Karachi.
The crew and passenger were as follows: Sgt. G. Chadwick (pilot); Sgt. W.H. Donnelly (navigator); Sgt. G.A. Wharton (wireless operator); Sgt. W.J. Brown (wireless operator); Lt.-Col. De Watteville (passenger).
Sergeant Donnelly was killed when the aircraft force-landed and he was buried by the crew near the aircraft. Sadly, however, despite extensive searches, it was not possible to locate the grave and subsequently Sgt Donnelly is commemorated on panel 270 of the Alamein Memorial."
The RAF records make no reference to the pilfering of the aircraft by local residents, mentioned in the Bahrain Residency records cited in the original paper.
Commander Colin Haley, of Britain's Royal Navy, who co-ordinated the archive research in Britain [3], has advised that further information may be available in records relating to the World War Two operations of the Sharjah RAF base, although these have not yet been examined.
Following receipt of this new information, one of the authors (LG) has checked the details of the crashed plane. It was built at the Vickers' factory in Weybridge, south west of London, in early 1942 and was delivered to the RAF in mid-1942. It was probably being delivered to an operational squadron when it crashed.
The plane sent to search for the crashed bomber was from the RAF's 244 Squadron, then based at Sharjah, with detachments at Masirah and Ra's al-Hadd, in Oman. It operated Bristol Bisley (or Blenheim V) aircraft. According to Colin Richardson, these were "truly dreadful aircraft" and "the loss rate was so high that a total of fifty Bisleys were issued to the squadron in sixteen months" (4). Several crashed in Oman, and at Sharjah. 244 Squadron was re-equipped with Wellingtons in 1944, and the remaining Bisleys were then transferred to a base at Heliopolis, just outside Cairo.
These further details have been passed to the Government of Fujairah, and efforts will now be made to identify the precise location of the crash site, and, if possible, of the grave of Sergeant Donnelly, who remains, at present, the only-known British and Commonwealth World War Two fatality buried in the United Arab Emirates.
The authors would welcome any further information on this or on other plane crashes in the Emirates, whether military or civilian, for the period up to the establishment of the UAE in 1971.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Sue Dickinson and her colleagues for undertaking the research and to Commander Colin Haley of the Royal Navy for co-ordinating the work and for supplying additional information about the RAF Sharjah archives. Alison Hall, of the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi, kindly made the relevant contacts for us.
References
1. Hellyer, P and Garey, L (2004). 'World War Two plane crashes in the UAE'. Tribulus 14.1: 9-12.
2. Intelligence Summary of the Political Agency, Bahrain, (henceforth Bahrain Summary) for the period 16th to 28th February 1943. No. 4 of 1943, in: Political Diaries of the Persian Gulf 1990. Vol. 15, p. 421, and Bahrain Summary for the period 1st to 15th March 1943. No., 5 of 1943. In Political Diaries, (op.cit)., Vol. 15, pp. 443-444.
3. Commander Colin Haley, (personal communication to PH), 21 December 2005.
4. Richardson, C (2003) Masirah, Tales from a Desert Island. Lancaster: Scotforth Books.
Peter Hellyer, Laurence Garey