LOSS OF IS LIVES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21947, 15 February 1946, Page 4

LOSS OF IS LIVES

TWO AIRCRAFT CRASH 12 OTHERS' INJURED (9 a.in.) LONDON, Feb. 14. Eighteen persons were killed in two plane crashes yesterday. A Sunderland of the R.A.F. Coastal Command, after signalling that the starboard engine was unserviceable, crashed in flames early in the morning on the foreshore of Lee-on-Solent. Ten members of the crew were killed. The Sunderland was outward bound for Karachi. The crash occurred shortly after leaving Calshot. A Dakota of a Canadian squadron of the Transport Command, on arriving from Germany, crashed at Chelsham, near Croydon. The Dakota carried 20 passengers and a crew of four. The first reports say that eight persons were killed and 12 injured. The dead included two officers and six N.C.O.s. Blazing oil covered the sea, baulking the rescuers' efforts. Lifeboats fought the (lames for four hours. The area where the Dakota crashed at Chelsham is called the “valley of death” by airmen because of flic climatic conditions. All the 20 passengers were members of the R.A.F. The Dakota ploughed its way through woodland before coming lo rest in a field near a farm-. Some of the injured, who were thrown clear, wandered round the field in a daze. The Dakota originally intended to land at Croydon and was then diverted to Biggin Hill.

The death-roll in Royal Air. Force crashes in Britain so far totals approximately 80 including the Dakota and Sunderland crashes, says the Daily Mail. .