Date: 30th November 1939 (Thursday)
Unit: No. 185 Squadron R.A.F.
Type: Handley Page Hampden I
Serial No: L4203
Location: Grange Farm, Widmer End, Buckinghamshire.
Pilot: P/O. John Musgrave 41197 Age 20. Killed
Obs: Sq/Ldr. Nigel Hope 32173 Age 32. Killed
W/Op/Air/Gnr: A/C 2. Daniel O' Regan 624786 Age ? Killed
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Lindsay Thom 580682 Age 24. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
Hampden L4203 and crew were en-route from Cottesmore to Heston. During the flight the aircraft encountered bad weather with poor visibility.
Pilot lost control and aircraft crashed near Grange Farm, with the tragic loss of all onboard.
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Lindsay Thom (Courtesy Sheena Samonas)
Melvin Brownless visits the crash site in May 2002. (A.R. Society archives)
in the foreground can be seen a pile of aircraft airframe parts left behind by the Chiltern Aircraft Recovery Group who excavated the crash site in the 1970's.
Graves of Sq/Ldr. Hope and P/O. Musgrave (A.R. Society archives)
Burial details:
P/O. John Musgrave Chesham Bois Burial grounds, Bucks. Sec. O. Grave 900
Son of Philip Henry and Bessie Sarah Musgrave, of Chesham Bois.
Sq/Ldr. Nigel Hope St. Michael Churchyard, Halton, Bucks. Plot. 3. Row B. Grave 82
Son of Graham Archibald and Ruby Evelyn Hope; husband of Evelyn Di Hope, of Emsworth, Hampshire.
A/C 2. Daniel O' Regan St. Patricks RC Cemetery, Leytonstone, Plot. 11A. Row 6. Grave. 25
No further details as yet.
Sgt. Lindsay Thom New Kilpatrick Cemetery, Dunbartonshire. Sec. E. Grave 1188
Son of William Munro Thom and Marion MacMillan Thom, of Glasgow.
Acknowledgments: With thanks to the following: Sheena Samonas, niece of Sgt. Lindsay Thom, Bill Chorley - "Bomber Command Losses" Vol. 1, the C.W.G.C.
