| Disappearance in 1942.
Remains of engine of AVRO Manchester L7485 ZN -Click on the photo to enlarge. |
|
At the start of it's career this AVRO MANCHESTER, serial number L 7485, flew with 207 Squadron, whose
code was EM. This aircraft was G GEORGE. It was transferred to 106 Squadron in March 1942.
(Above is a photo of the aircraft, the photo is part of the archives of the RAF Museum at Handon).
The aircraft, an AVRO MANCHESTER MK1, now coded ZM, was based at Coningsby, in Lincolnshire
( East Anglia ).
At 20h50 on the night of Thursday 16 April 1942, it took off for a "Gardening" mission over occupied
France. 5 Gardening was the code name for the missions of dropping mines at sea or in in river estuaries )
This particular target was 'Deodars', the code name for the Bay of Biscay, in the waters just outside the
estuary of the Gironde.
21 aircraft set out on the mission, only one was lost. ( this aircraft ZM ). The archives of RAF
Bomber Command losses shows that it was thought that the aircraft was presumed lost in the Channel.
In fact it was lost a few miles out to sea, off the coast of Batz-sur-Mer. ( Sothern Brittainy ).
One of the two engines was caught in a fishing net in 1989. 47 years in sea water, after it was shot down.
Sea water corrosion has caused the disappearance of most of the aluminium parts.
In the photos can be seen a block of aluminium dust and debris, the steel parts are the exception.
The engine block could not be saved, we were able to save the "wet sleeves" of the pistons, some valves
and the crankshaft you can see here.
There were seven members of crew. There were no survivors.
Sergeants ,D.N.STORER, and ,T.H.POWER, have no known grave. There names appear on the RUNNYMEDE Memorial in
SURREY ( near Windsor in England ).
Two other members of the crew, Sergeant Observer,Robert ROBERTSON, aged 21 and the Radio Operator
,Douglas WIGHTMAN, aged 22, are buried in the Military Cemetry in La Baule.
F/O ,G.W. WARD, and Machine Gunner ,WILLIAM VALENTINE ROGERSON,, aged 27 are both buried in the
Military Cemetry in Pornic, near to St. Nazaire.
P/O ,C.SCATCHARD, is buried in SCARBOROUGH ( MANOR ROAD Cemetry ).
The Avro Manchester was a twin engined aircraft, two Rolls-Royces of 24 cylinders in X, of 1800 hp. |
|
-Aircraft Collection 
