1940-07-11 Avro Anson

11-jul-40 23:20 Molenhaven (Oosterlandsedijk bij Brielle) Anson I N5220 500 Sqdn F/O. A.W.A. Whitehead B

11-07-1940 Avro Anson Oostvoorne

On july 11th. 1940, at around 11 hours in the evening, a british RAF plane crashes near the Oosterlandschedijk in Oostvoorne (nowadays Brielle). It is an Avro Anson of 500 Sqdn. (Coastal Command). It was patrolling along the coast of the Netherlands. One of its crew is Sgt. Henry W.J. Smith, nr. 812199. He survives the crash and is taken POW and transported to Amsterdam. Near the wreck site the bodies of the other crew members are found. These are Fl/Off. Arthur W.A. Whitehead, pilot, Age 23 yr., P/O Anthony R. Mathias, pilot and A.C.1 William C. Hubbard, W.Op., age 21 yr. They are buried at the cemetry of Rotterdam-Crooswijk.

Source: Documentatiearchief ’40-’45 gemeente West-voorne.

Anston N5220/MK-D, on a North Sea patrol, crashed at 23.30 hrs south-west of Den Briel in Holland after being attacked by HE 111's.

FO A.W.A Whitbread,

Plt Off A.R. Mathias and

AC1 W.C. Hubbard perished in the crash;

Sgt H.J. Smith survived and became POW

Narrative:

Anson N5220 'D' of 500 Squadron, Detling, failed to return from a patrol over the North Sea. Reported as shot down by Heinkel He.111s at Pernis, near Rotterdam, Holland. Three of the four crew killed by enemy action, one taken POW:

Crew:

P/O. AWA. Whitehead killed.

P/O. AR. Mathias killed.

Sgt. HWJ. Smith PoW.

AC1. WC. Hubbard killed.

The three crew killed were interred in the Crooswijk Cemetary in Rotterdam

Flying Officer Whitehead, Arthur Wilfred Alexander

Son of Sir James Beethom Whitehead, K.C.M.G., M.A., J.P., and the Hon. Marian Cecilia Whitehead (nee Brodrick), of Lymington, Hampshire.

Remembered at Lymington War Memorial

Note: Lymington War Memorial was his initials as “A.L.A.” not “A.W.A.” but I’m pretty sure this is the same person.

Listed as Missing in The Times, Monday, 29/7/1940, page 7, Issue 48680, column D.

Whitehead - In July 1940, as a result of enemy action while on patrol, Flying Officer A.W.A. Whitehead, youngest son of the late Sir Beethom and the Honourable Lady Whitehead (formerly of Efford Park, Lymington, Hants). - The Times, 22/08/1940, page 1, Issue 48701, column A.

Flying Officer Arthur Wilfred Alexander Whitehead killed as a result of enemy action while on patrol, was the youngest son of the late Sir Beethom and the Hon. Lady Whitehead, formerly of Efford Park, Lymington, Hants. He was commissioned as a pilot officer in the Reserve of Air Force Officers on March 24, 1930 and promoted to flying officer 18 months later. - The Times Obituary, 24/8/1940, page 7. Confirmation of rank in London Gazette 14/04/1931.

- The Times 6/9/1940; pg. 7; Issue 48714; col E:

Name: Whitehead, A W A

Rank: Flying Officer (Pilot)

Service No: 70731

Service: Royal Air Force

Regiment:

Unit:

Date of Birth:

Date of Death: 11/07/1940

Age at death: 29

Buried: ROTTERDAM (CROOSWIJK) GENERAL CEMETERY

Decorations:

The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956) (about) Saturday 4 December 1937

CASUAL AIRMAN ARRIVES

On Six Months' Flight

A casual young Englishman "dropped in" at the Essendon airport on Thursday evening on a holiday visit. He stepped from his Miles Falcon aeroplane as coolly as a flier who had been on a short flight over Melbourne. But he had just completed one of the longest holiday trips which any Oxford student had undertaken. He had flown from England He was Mr. A. W. A. Whitehead, who left his home In Hampshire late in July.

He flew In leisurely stages to Sourabaya, and there, because he considered that the average of successful crossings of the Timor Sea by slngle-englned aircraft was far too high to last, he shipped his plane to Darwin.

Early this morning Mr. Whitehead will fly to Kempsey (N.S.W.) for an aeria pageant this afternoon. Only one slower flight than his has been made to Australia. It was the historic flight of Lieutenant Ray Parer and Mcintosh in 1820. They took seven months.

The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956) (about) Saturday 11 June 1938

TRADED-IN HIS AEROPLANE

Mr. R. Hamblin, or Ganmain (N.S.W.), flew the Miles Falcon monoplane which he purchased through Captain Frank Roberts, managing director of Victorian and Interstate Airways, from Essendon to his home, between Narrandera and Junee, yesterday morning.

The plane which Mr. Hamblin has acquired was brought to Australia on a leisurely flight towards the end of last year by Mr, A. W. A. Whitehead, a young Oxford University graduate. Mr. Hamblin had purchased from the company a Moth plane earlier in the year, and he decided that he would like to acquire a faster machine. He traded in the Moth and took possession of the Miles Falcon yesterday.

Club Plane Repaired

The Miles Whitney Straight monoplane which was added to the air fleet of the Royal Victorian Aeio Club some months ago, and which was damaged near Swan Hill recently, has now been repaired in the club's workshops at Essendon.

A cable message was despatched to England for two undercarriage legs to be sent to Melbourne by airmail. This was done at a cost of approximately £ 15.

The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956) (about) Friday 10 December 1937

Mr A W A Whitehead the joung

English airman who is on a visit to Australla and who has been spending some dajs in MeiDouine inspecting the workshops of Australian National Airwajs at Essendon yesterday and expressed surprise at the magnitude of the undertaking.

-Coastal Command No. 500 squadron, Detling UK.

-Coastal Command actions against German Shipping or bombing sorties in Holland/Rotterdam in July 1940.

-Involved an Avro Anson MK 1.

-Flying Officer AWA Whitehead.

-Pilot Officer AR Mathias.

-Aircrafts man first class WC Hubbard. (625793)

The 3 RAF members died on July the 11th 1940 and are buried in Rotterdam.

No. 500 (County of Kent) Squadron AAF was formed in 1931 as a Special Reserve squadron and in 1936 became part of the Auxiliary Air Force. It served in a number of roles before being disbanded in 1957.

History

Formation and early years

The Squadron was formed at RAF Manston on 16 March 1931 as the first[16] Special Reserve night-bomber squadron with Vickers Virginia Mk.Xaircraft. On 25 May 1936 the role changed to day-bombing and the squadron became part of the Auxiliary Air Force, flying Hawker Harts, later replaced with Hawker Hinds.[2][4]

To Coastal Command

On 7 November 1938 the squadron saw another role change as it was transferred to RAF Coastal Command and became a general reconnaissance squadron flying on Anson Mk.Is. In April 1941 these were replaced with Blenheim Mk.IVs which the squadron used till November 1941, when Lockheed Hudsons took their place. From December 1943 these were replaced with Lockheed Ventura Mk.Vs, until the squadron was completely equipped with them in April 1944. The squadron disbanded on 11 July 1944, handing over their Ventura's to No. 27 Squadron SAAF.[2][17]

Back in Bomber Command

The Squadron was reformed on 1 August 1944 at La Senia as a bomber squadron, receiving Martin Baltimores. In September 1945 No. 500 squadron left Italy and headed for Kenya, being renumbered on arrival 23 October 1945 at RAF Eastleigh to No. 249 Squadron RAF.[2][18][19] During World War II the squadron members had been awarded with 1 GC[20], 2 DSOs, 21 DFCs, 1 bar the DFC, 9 DFMs and one CGM. Beside these, the squadron was mentioned in dispatches 25 times.[5]

To Fighter Command

RAF West Malling Station Crest

The Squadron was reformed again on 10 May 1946 at RAF West Malling, equipped with Mosquito NF.19s and later NF.30s, as a night fighter squadron in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. Later, following an Air Ministry decision to convert all RAuxAF units to day fighter roles, the squadron became equipped with Meteor F.3s[21]. The squadron disbanded finally on 10 March 1957, along with all other flying squadrons of the RAuxAF.[4][22][23]

Notable squadron members

• • Daphne Pearson

  • Denis Spotswood

The Avro Anson

The Avro Anson was designed as a civil passenger plane, entered RAF service as a coastal reconnaissance aircraft, but saw most service as a training aircraft. Work on the Anson began in May 1933 when Imperial Airways gave A.V. Roe a specification for a four seat passenger plain capable of flying 420 miles at a cruising speed of 130mph. The first design was produced by Roy Chadwick in August 1933 with the designation Avro 652. He produced a low-wing monoplane, with manually operated retractable landing gear and powered by a pair of Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah V engines.

Imperial Airways placed a first order for two Avro 652s in April 1934. The next month A.V. Roe was approached by the Air Ministry, who were looking for a twin engined landplane for coastal reconnaissance duties and wanted to know if A.V. Roe had any suitable commercial designs that could be adapted. By the end of the month Chadwick’s design team had produced the design for the Type 652A, a militarised version of the as-yet incomplete Avro 652. A.V. Roe were given a contract to produce a prototype, with a delivery deadline of March 1935. The company found itself working on two different versions of the same aircraft at the same time.

The civil version was completed first. It flew on 7 January 1935, was given its type certification in March, and delivered to Imperial Airways on 11 March. The military Avro 652A made its first flight two weeks later, on 24 March. It then took part in a competitive test with the de Havilland D.H.89M. The Avro 652A proved to have longer range and endurance than the D.H.89M, and won the production contract.

The Avro Anson GR.Mk I was produced to specification 18/35. The first production aircraft flew on 31 December 1935, and only three months later No. 48 Squadron became the first squadron to go operational with the Anson. The Anson was the first monoplane to enter RAF service, the first aircraft with retractable landing gear, and the only faster aircraft in the RAF were the faster fighters. Nothing demonstrated the dramatic increase in aircraft performance in the years before the Second World War better than the Anson’s rapid decline from the “hot ship” of 1935 to the obsolescent “Faithful Anne” of 1939.

Before the outbreak of the war the Anson served in two roles. Its primary role was as a general reconnaissance aircraft with coastal command. As one of the first modern aircraft to enter RAF service it also gained a second role as a training aircraft, equipping a number of bomber squadrons while they awaited their own more modern aircraft.

By the start of the war it had already been decided to replace the Anson with the Lockheed Hudson, but it would take until 1941 for the Anson to disappear from front line Coastal Command squadrons. The Anson was used to conduct coastal reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrols around the British coast, even clashing with German fighter aircraft from time to time. On 1 June 1940 one Anson of No. 500 squadron even claimed two Bf. 109s!

The vast majority of Ansons served as training aircraft, both in Britain and in Canada. In 1939-40 fourteen bomber squadrons were issued with the Anson as a trainer, eleven of them as part of No.6 Group. Most of these squadrons were later used to create the Operational Training Units.

Avro Anson in flight

The Anson was also used as a standard trainer by the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, inaugurated on 18 December 1939. This saw aircrews trained in the safety of Canada. Over 3,000 Ansons were produced for this purpose, over 2,800 of then in Canada.

The Anson re-entered Coastal Command service in 1943, equipping six air-sea rescue squadrons, where it was used to drop dinghies to strained aircrew. A seventh air-sea rescue squadron was formed in Iceland in 1944.

The Anson was also used by a number of communications and transport squadrons, often returning to its original passenger transport role.

Finally five special duties squadrons used the Anson - two anti-aircraft calibration duties, one combined operations training unit, one radar counter measures unit and one wireless intelligence unit.

The Anson remained in use as a light transport and communications aircraft until 1968. Its last official mission was a flypast by aircraft of the Southern Communications Squadron on 28 June 1968.

Mk I

The Avro Anson Mk I was the most numerous version of the aircraft. A total of 6,742 were produced, 3,935 at Woodford and the rest at Yeadon. The Mk I was powered by two Armstrong Siddeley IX radial engines. It carried two machine guns – one fixed forward firing Vickers gun in the nose and one Lewis gun in a dorsal turret. It could carry two 100lb bombs under the wing centre section and eight 20lb bombs under the wings.

Mk II

The Anson Mk II was the first type to be produced entirely in Canada. It was powered by the Jacobs L-6MB engine and featured hydraulically operated flaps and landing gear. Most of the fuselage was the same as in the Mk I, other than the nose, which was made of moulded plywood. The first of 1,832 Mk IIs flew on 21 August 1941.

Mk III

The Mk III and Mk IV both appeared before the Mk II. They were produced for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, combining fuselages produced in Britain with engines installed in Canada. The Mk III was powered by the Jacobs L-6MB engine.

Mk IV

The Mk IV combined British-made fuselages with two Wright Whirlwind R-975-E3 engines. A total of 223 Mk IIIs and Mk IVs were built before production moved to the all-Canadian Mk II.

Mk V

The Mk V was a further development of the Canadian Mk II. This time the entire fuselage was produced from moulded fuselage. The square windows of the earlier models were replaced by circular portholes. The Mk V was powered by two 450hp Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-12B engines. The Mk V could accommodate five trainees, compared to three in the earlier models. 1,050 Mk Vs were produced.

Mk VII, Mk VIII, Mk IX

Not produced

Mk X

The Mk X was a transport version of the Anson, produced in Britain. It was given a reinforced cabin floor. Unlike the Canadian produced models it retained the manually operated landing gear of the Mk I. 103 Mk Xs were produced at Yeadon.

Mk XI and Mk XII

The Anson Mk XI and Anson Mk XII were the first British versions to feature hydraulically operated flaps and landing gear. They also had a raised roofline, designed to increase the headroom for passengers. The Mk XI was powered by the 395hp Cheetah XIX engine while the Mk XII used the 420hp Cheetah XV. 91 Mk XIs and 254 Mk XIIs were produced, beginning in 1944. Late production Mk XIIs were given an all-metal wing under the designation Mk XII Series 2.

Mk XIII, Mk XIV, Mk XV and Mk XVI

Not produced

Mk XVII

Not designated

Mk 18

The Anson Mk 18 was a version of the C.19 ordered for the Royal Afghan Air Force, equipped for police duty. Twenty five Mk 18s were built, 12 for Afghanistan and the rest for India.

Mk C.19

As the end of the war came close the Brabazon Committee was established to examine help convert the British aircraft industry to civil production. The Anson C.19 was first developed early in 1945 to match the Bradazon Committee’s Specification 19, and saw civil service as the Avro 19. It was based on the Mk XI, but with five oval windows on each side of the fuselage and a properly furnished interior rather than the bare military finish of the wartime transports. The Avro 19 then entered RAF service as the Anson Mk C.19. Between 1945 and 1946 264 C.19s were produced, 20 by converting Mk XIIs and the rest as new production.

T.20

The T.20 was a post war development of the Anson, built as a training aircraft for Southern Rhodesia. Fifty nine were built, starting in 1947.

T.21

The T.21 was a navigation trainer produced for Flying Training Command. 252 were produced between 1948 and 1952 and a T.21 was the last Anson to be completed.

T.22

The final variant of the Anson was the T.22 radio trainer. Fifty-four examples of this model were built, starting in 1948.

Specification (Mk I)

Engine: Two Armstrong Siddeley IX radial engines

Horsepower: 350hp each

Span: 56ft 5in

Length: 42ft 3in

Max Speed: 188mph at 7,000ft

Cruising Speed: 158mph

Ceiling: 19,000ft

Range: 790 miles

Radius of action: 330 miles

Armament: One 0.303in fixed forward firing machine gun, one 0.303in gun in dorsal turret

Bomb load: 360lb