Memorial Title
Sgt W A Love RAF
Summary
Images
|
|
Click on a thumbnail to see a larger image. Further images may be available on request. |
Locations
| Last known location: Tintwistle Knarr Woodhead Pass (A628) Tintwistle Longdendale Derbyshire |
Nearest postcode: SK13 1HT NGR: SK 03489 99239 ±5m (Map opens in new window.) |
Location details: Tintwistle Knarr is an area of woodland and heather moorland between Tintwistle and Crowden. It lies on the northern valley side of the River Etherow, Longdendale, north of Woodhead Pass and accessible only by steep and arduous paths. Five military aircraft have crashed in this area: if you visit the site please respect it and those commemorated, and especially do not remove items from the many débris pools. |
Type
| Overall type: Composite | Overall condition: Fair. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Description: A small wooden cross with a plastic poppy attached at its centre and originally bearing a photograph of Sgt Love, though that has now become lost. Glossary |
Components:
|
||||||||||||||||||
Inscription
| [None] |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Administration
Local authorities:
From WW2: Tintwistle Parish Council; Tintwistle Rural District Council; Cheshire County Council.
From 1974: Tintwistle Parish Council; High Peak Borough Council; Derbyshire County Council.
History and Conservation
5th April, 2016: Mr Barry Love placed the cross at site of the tail of the aircraft, where his great uncle died.
30th September, 2018: The memorial was surveyed by Jo Sellors and Baz Sellors. It was in poor condition and beginning to disintegrate.
References
Comments
The crew of Avro Lancaster Mk BVII FE, registration PA411, of 230 Operational Conversion Unit had taken off from RAF Lindholme near Doncaster during the night of 20th December 1948 for a night training exercise which was to have been largely local flying. At just after midnight on the 21st the aircraft was heard flying east over Tintwistle in low cloud, followed by the sound of it crashing. Subsequently it has been deduced that the pilot saw the moor at the very last moment and attempted to make the aircraft climb away from the danger. Although the nose rose, the tail hit the ground breaking off the whole tail section. The main fuselage then hit the ground and exploded.
Although Sgt Love is only member of the crew commemorated on the memorial, the full list of the men who died is:
Flight Sergeant Jack Sherwood Thompson, Pilot;
Flight Lieutenant Peter Maurice Maskell, Navigator;
Flight Sergeant Robert Smith, Signaller.
Flight Sergeant Vincent Graham, Flight Engineer,
Sergeant William Allen Love, Signaller and rear gunner;
Flight Lieutenant Thomas Lowerth Johnson, Instructor;
Flight Sergeant David William Henry Harris, Instructor.
Can you add to or correct anything on this page? Let us know.