CAPTAIN: DEVERILL
LANCASTER P-PETER - JB243
Crashed at Graveley, killing 6 of the crew, 1 survivor.
CREW
Pilot: S/L Ernest Alfred Deverill
Killed 17-Dec-43, buried in Docking (St Mary) Churchyard, Norfolk
Flight Engineer: F/S Alexander Russell
Killed 17-Dec-43, buried in Epsom Cemetery
Navigator: P/O John Thomas Brown
Killed 17-Dec-43, buried in Belfast (Dundonald) Cemetery
Bomb Aimer: F/S Francis Roy Farr
Killed 17-Dec-43, buried in Windsor Cemetery
W/Op: F/S Ralph Crossgrove
Killed 17-Dec-43, buried in Cambridge City Cemetery
Mid-Upper Gunner: W/O James Benbow
Severely injured 17-Dec-43
Rear Gunner: W/O Donald Jamieson Penfold
Killed 17-Dec-43, buried in Worthing (Durrington) Cemetery
LANCASTER P-PETER - JB243
Crashed at Graveley, killing 6 of the crew, 1 survivor.
CREW
Pilot: S/L Ernest Alfred Deverill
Killed 17-Dec-43, buried in Docking (St Mary) Churchyard, Norfolk
Flight Engineer: F/S Alexander Russell
Killed 17-Dec-43, buried in Epsom Cemetery
Navigator: P/O John Thomas Brown
Killed 17-Dec-43, buried in Belfast (Dundonald) Cemetery
Bomb Aimer: F/S Francis Roy Farr
Killed 17-Dec-43, buried in Windsor Cemetery
W/Op: F/S Ralph Crossgrove
Killed 17-Dec-43, buried in Cambridge City Cemetery
Mid-Upper Gunner: W/O James Benbow
Severely injured 17-Dec-43
Rear Gunner: W/O Donald Jamieson Penfold
Killed 17-Dec-43, buried in Worthing (Durrington) Cemetery
DETAILS
At twenty past one in the morning of 17th December 1943 (as recorded on the accident card - there are various timing discrepancies concerning this crash) a Lancaster from 97 Squadron crashed on Graveley airfield itself. It was that of Squadron Leader Ernest Alfred Deverill, who had been posted back only 11 days before from 1660 Conversion Unit at Swinderby, where he had been acting as an instructor. The Berlin op that night was the first raid of his third tour. A highly dedicated man, he had flown so many operations that he could easily have missed this last tour.
27 year old Deverill had once been a "Halton Brat" - that is to say, a pupil of No 1 School of Technical Training at RAF Halton, where apprentices and boys were trained to become technical staff to service and repair aircraft. Deverill had outstanding natural ability, and overcoming all the usual conventions he had remustered as a pilot in 1938. He had flown over a hundred sorties, most of them for Coastal Command, before he once again bucked the norm and became an officer, having worked his way up from the very bottom of the ladder. There is no doubt that he was a superb pilot. For his bravery and persistence he had won the Distinguished Flying Medal, and the Distinguished Flying Cross twice. He was posthumously to be awarded the Air Force Cross.
Deverill had been one of the stars of the early days of 97 Squadron at Woodhall Spa. He was on the famous Augsburg raid of 17th April 1942, when 97 Squadron had garnered a sheaf of honours. A daring and in the event very costly experiment by Harris using the then new Lancasters, the raid had been a daylight operation to Bavaria to wreck the engine assembly shop within the MAN diesel engine factories. The operation was dogged by ill-luck and, though serious damage was done to the factory, only five of the twelve Lancasters reached home. The raid proved once and for all that even the magnificent new Lancasters could not be used in daylight raids. Deverill got his plane back to England only after it had suffered appalling damage. Y-Yorker had been hit in numerous places; it had lost an engine, the hydraulic pipes had been ruptured, the gun turrets put out of action, and at one stage the hydraulic oil caught fire, burning a large part of the fuselage. Y-Yorker was a write-off for any future operations, though it was patched up and used for training at Wigsley until the following year, when it was lost in a training accident over Hertfordshire.
Deverill had been one of the stars of the early days of 97 Squadron at Woodhall Spa. He was on the famous Augsburg raid of 17th April 1942, when 97 Squadron had garnered a sheaf of honours. A daring and in the event very costly experiment by Harris using the then new Lancasters, the raid had been a daylight operation to Bavaria to wreck the engine assembly shop within the MAN diesel engine factories. The operation was dogged by ill-luck and, though serious damage was done to the factory, only five of the twelve Lancasters reached home. The raid proved once and for all that even the magnificent new Lancasters could not be used in daylight raids. Deverill got his plane back to England only after it had suffered appalling damage. Y-Yorker had been hit in numerous places; it had lost an engine, the hydraulic pipes had been ruptured, the gun turrets put out of action, and at one stage the hydraulic oil caught fire, burning a large part of the fuselage. Y-Yorker was a write-off for any future operations, though it was patched up and used for training at Wigsley until the following year, when it was lost in a training accident over Hertfordshire.
CREW: Ernest Alfred Deverill, Alexander Russell, John Thomas Brown, Francis Roy Farr, Ralph Crossgrove, James Benbow, Donald Jamieson Penfold
Aircrew on Berlin op - December 16/17 1943
Left: Deverill's grave in Docking Churchyard, Norfolk, photo: Keith May
Below: the war memorial at Docking, photo: Kevin Bending.
Below: the war memorial at Docking, photo: Kevin Bending.
Left: a larger - and later - image of Deverill
The one above was taken after the famous Augsburg raid
Below right: James Benbow - on the right
The man on the left in RAF uniform looks so much like him that they may well have been relatives, perhaps brothers.
James Benbow was the only survivor of the terrible crash at Graveley. Severely burned, he never flew again. He was treated by McIndoe at East Grinstead for the appalling burns to his hands, hence his membership of the Guinea Pig Club - there were apparently no serious burns to his face.
With many thanks to Kevin Bending for the Benbow picture and newspaper cutting.
The one above was taken after the famous Augsburg raid
Below right: James Benbow - on the right
The man on the left in RAF uniform looks so much like him that they may well have been relatives, perhaps brothers.
James Benbow was the only survivor of the terrible crash at Graveley. Severely burned, he never flew again. He was treated by McIndoe at East Grinstead for the appalling burns to his hands, hence his membership of the Guinea Pig Club - there were apparently no serious burns to his face.
With many thanks to Kevin Bending for the Benbow picture and newspaper cutting.
