Another image in this WW2 photo montage series of planes flying from RAF Chivenor. This is what it may have looked like to see an Avro Anson flying low over the flood barrier heading back to RAF Chivenor, part of Coastal Command 1941.
My mother (who lived as a child in the cottage at Little Raleigh, Roborough, Barnstaple, North Devon) remembers an aircraft crashing into the wall opposite to where she lived, near to where the North Devon District Hospital now stands. Her brother Terrance visited the site the morning after and retrieved some of the clear perspex canopy. He then made rings inlaid with paste diamonds for some of the local girls in Derby. The account in now available from Robert Palmer MA, Titled The Last Flight of Avro Anson N9817. http://www.BritishMilitaryHistory.co.uk. January 15th 1940: Avro Anson 652 reg K6271. While on a night training mission, the crew was forced to attempt an emergency landing in a Barnstaple field for an unknown reason. At the time of the accident, the visibility was poor. The crew fate remains unknown. PLANE CRASH NEAR BARNSTAPLE Albert Percival Snelling 45, Pilot Killed: Engineer Rescued. MACHINE BURNT OUT: RICKS DESTROYED. The pilot lost his life and the other occupant was seriously injured when a twin engine aeroplane crashed which had for some considerable time been at Barnstaple and North Devon Aerodrome. Bureau Of Aircraft Accidents Archive.May 15th 1941: Avro Anson N9817. Crashes at Roborough, North Devon. Two pilots were killed as was an unfortunate road worker. The crash was documented as youthful exuberance. The had been performing a falling leaf manoeuvre and had sadly stalled their aircraft.August 27th 1941: A twin engine aircraft (probably an Avro Anson ) was reported “missing” in northern Cornwall, perhaps at Harland ; This plane was from Chivenor.July 4th 1958: VV362 Avro Anson, After taxiing in at RAF Chivenor, Devon, an ambulance was reversed in front of it to transfer a patient from the Anson. The pilot increased rpm to prevent oiling the plugs but the aircraft moved forward and struck the ambulance. The fuselage was twisted and the tail damaged. There were no injuries.October 17th 1960: WD451, Following an uneventful training mission from RAF St Athan, the crew mistakenly belly landed at RAF Chivenor. The aircraft slid for several yards before coming to rest and was damaged beyond repair. Both pilots were unhurt. The probable cause was thought to be that the crew mistakenly raised the landing gear on approach instead of lowering the flaps.