Date: 21st September 1943.
Unit: No. 13 O.T.U. (Operational Training Unit)
Type: B25 Mitchell.
Serial No: FL193
Location: Steeple Claydon Bucks
Pilot: Flying Officer John Ledgerwood. 421863. R.A.A.F. Age 21. Killed.
Nav: Pilot Officer Andrew Goodwin Olson. J/25058. R.C.A.F. Age 20. Killed. (1)
A/G: Flight Sergeant Eric George Bailey. 422375. R.A.A.F. Age 25. Killed.
A/G: Sergeant Michael Justin Tymms. 422324. R.A.A.F. Age 19. Killed.
REASON FOR LOSS
This aircraft took off from its base at Finmere on a Training Flight, Exact details unknown, believed to have lost power on take-off and travelled some 5 miles south east of the airfield at tree top height, before crashing in fields near Steeple Claydon.
R.A.F Mitchell in D-Day Markings over the English countryside
Sister aircraft FL684.
Left to right, P/O A G Olson, Flt/Sgt E G Bailey, F/O J J Ledgerwood, Sgt M J Tymms.
Above left: Flt/Sgt. E G Bailey. right: Sgt. M J Tymms.
Crews Funeral at Botley Cemetery.
The last coffin, that of Sgt Tymms is carried to his last resting place.
C.W.G.C. War Graves at Botley Oxford
Burial Details:
Flying Officer John Ledgerwood. Oxford (Botley) Cemetery Plot I/2. Grave 70.
Son of James Francis and Constance Irene Ledgerwood, of Griffith, New South Wales, Australia.
Pilot Officer Andrew Goodwin Olson. Oxford (Botley) Cemetery Plot I/2. Grave 71.
Son of Andrew and Selma Victoria Olson, of Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Flight Sergeant Eric George Bailey. Oxford (Botley) Cemetery Plot I/2. Grave 72.
Son of William and Sarah Bailey, of Grafton, New South Wales; husband of Merlin Jean Bailey of Maclean, New South Wales, Australia.
Sergeant Michael Justin Tymms. Oxford (Botley) Cemetery Plot I/2. Grave 73.
Son of Dr. Albert Oscar Vincent Tymms and Henrietta Eyre Maunsell Tymms, of Neutral Bay, New South Wales, Australia.
See also Historical News section regarding the emotional visit by Sgt. Bailey's daughter to the crash site in September 2008 -
arranged by the Aircrew Remembrance Society. Click Here to take you to the page.