Date: 11th September 1943
Unit: No. 2 R.S. (Radio School)
Type: Percival Proctor III
Serial No: R7531
Base: R.A.F. Yatesbury Wiltshire
Location: Pippingford Park, 2 miles North of Nutley, Sussex, England.
Pilot: Sergeant Richard Morriss (1395754) Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve - Killed.
Radio Operator: Aircraftman 2nd Class William Howden O'Dell (657189) Age. 23. Royal Air Force – Killed.
REASON FOR LOSS:
A Percival Proctor III aircraft in service with a radio School (I.W.M.)
Percival Proctor III R7531 took-off from R.A.F. Yatesbury Wiltshire on a radio DF transmission flight, it was last seen flying at low level near Nutley, Sussex. Unconfirmed reports state that the aircraft hit a house before diving into the ground at Pippingford Park, 2 miles North of Nutley, Sussex, England killing both crewmembers.
Sergeant Richard Morriss (1395754) Richards grave at Nutley.
The grave of Aircraftman 2nd Class William Howden O'DELL (657189) WAAF radar operators under training at No. 2 Radio Direction Finding School at Yatesbury, Wiltshire, plot a course during one of the units training flights.(I.W.M.)
Burial Details :
Sergeant Richard Morriss (1395754)
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Died 10 September 1943
Buried at Nutley (St. James The Less) Churchyard. Grave 1136.
United Kingdom
Aircraftman 2nd Class William Howden O'DELL (657189) of the Royal Air Force
Died 10 September 1943 Age : 23 years.
Plot. 25. Row C. Grave 19. Brookwood Military Cemetery, United Kingdom
Son of William Henry and Freda Marie O’Dell, of King’s Norton, Birmingham.
Acknowledgments: Compiled & researched by David King and Alexander King. With special thanks to Caroline Tayler (nee Morriss) Niece of Richard Morriss, for the supply of the only known photograph of Richard reproduced here in his memory.