LEST WE FORGET

Flying Officer Stuart WOOD

Service No: 400337
Born: St Arnaud VIC, 20 June 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 August 1940
Unit: No. 100 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Grimsby, Lincolnshire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 100 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED540), Yorkshire, 15 February 1943, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Grimsby (Scartho Road) Cemetery, Lincolnshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George T. Wood and Amy Ada Wood, of South Yarra, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Avoca VIC
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

Lancaster ED540 took off from Grimsby on 15 February 1943, detailed to carry out a high level cross country training exercise. The aircraft crashed at 1308 hours and caught fire after attempting to go round again at Grimsby airfield. Five of the crew were killed and two were injured.

A Flying Accident report on the crash stated “After climbing on the first leg and approaching 18,000 feet, black smoke poured from the port outer engine, and the engine was feathered. It was presumed that the altitude mixture control needle had stuck and was resulting in too rich a mixture at altitude. If the engine had been switched on again just before landing it probably would have run perfectly normally. The pilot approached to land with the port outer engine feathered. There was a strong and gusty wind blowing and the aircraft bounced on landing. The Pilot opened up to go round again and the aircraft flew straight for a short distance. When the aircraft reached 200 feet it went into a turn to port which increased very rapidly and the aircraft dived into the ground. The aircraft maintained insufficient speed to enable it to climb.”

The crew members of ED540 were:

Sergeant S E M Carson (1108682) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber) Injured
Sergeant John Ernest Norman Croft (974572) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant E Evans (1073883) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner) Injured
Sergeant William Edward Scarborough (1383828) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Norman Sydney Lionel Stent (89622) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant John Sidney Wall (927481) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Stuart Wood (400337) (Navigator)

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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/44/13

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