LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Richard Joseph MANLY
Service No: 437624
Born: Melbourne VIC, 19 March 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 30 March 1943 (at Adelaide SA)
Unit: No. 29 Operational Training Unit (RAF). RAF Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 29 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft LP332), Derbyshire, 19 October 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Oxford (Botley) Cemetery, Oxfordshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Dr. Richard Arthur Manly and Jean Dorothea Manly, of Malvern, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Malvern VIC
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On 19 October 1944, Wellington LP332 took off from RAF Bruntingthorpe at 0050 hours to carry out a solo cross country and bombing exercise of five hours duration. It crashed at Langley Priory at 0235 hours and five of the crew were killed, the Pilot saving his life by parachute after being thrown out of the aircraft accidentally as it broke up in the dive. The aircraft entered a cumulus type cloud and immediately encountered severe static and icing conditions. The Pilot attempted a rate 1 climbing turn to port on to a reciprocal heading. During the turn the air speed indication suddenly fell back to zero, owing to the apparent icing of the pitot head. The crew were ordered to put on parachutes an order that was only acknowledged by two members. The port wing and nose of the aircraft dropped suddenly probably due to the turbulence, icing and a low airspeed, and immediately entered an uncontrollable dive. The Pilot was not strapped in and in the opinion of the Court this prevented him from exercising immediate and complete control. Due to the speed attained in the dive the flying controls locked, but the pilot did not use his trimming devices. Apparently the force of gravity set up in the dive was sufficiently great to prevent the crew from abandoning the aircraft. Structural failure of the aircraft was caused y the high speed attained in the dive. The loss of the tail unit and the main-planes caused the aircraft to invert and the pilot was thrown clear.”
The crew members of LP332 were:
Sergeant Thomas Philip Eastwood (2226284) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Kenneth Roy Geen (1895133) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Cyril Alfred Leonard Jackson (1892759) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Richard Joseph Manly (437624) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Tom Campbell Moore (428414) (Pilot) Survived, Discharged from the RAAF: 24 March 1947
Sergeant Maxwell John Pill (1605288) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/27/604