Cliff House Farm Aircraft Crash
 

I haven't seen any threads about this subject on here, but during WW2 on the 1st of December 1943 an RAF Bomber crashed into Cliff House Farm owned by the Robson family, killing their five children and 6 crew members. I've always been interested of learning more about this as i used to live in Robsons Way, where all the streets are named after the children killed. Is the farm still there? Is that the same farm which is still on Gloster Hill? Any information or pictures would be appreciated.

Welcome to the forum, the 5 Robson kids were my mother's cousins. The subject has been extensively covered in other threads but you are right it doesn't have one to itself. Yes the streets are the children, they are buried in the West cemetery, no the farm is long gone, demolished by opencast mining up by Togston bends. It has been covered on fb in Amble in Old photos as well. Plenty on the net if you google it,

Thank you for the info, i will have a search for old photos now

Our page was here:

https://www.fusilier.co.uk/boats_pla...rm_togston.htm

I do have copies of the Acklington record book for WW2 but the accident report for that incident is incomplete, only a couple of pages remaining. (the rest removed? ) - but multiple copies of the report were sent to various RAF bodies at the time so the full report will exist somewhere I expect. If not transcribed and already online it will require a trip to the National Archives. It might of course be on 'facebook' I do not know.

here's a couple of photos of original documents you might find of interest:

I see the surviving aircrew member felt like the aircraft 'Jarred violently', possibly they had hit the slipstream of another aircraft - then ...he recalls nothing.

Without having to trawl back though other records does anyone recall the bombers' mission and why they ended up at a fighter base in the north east?

My now worthless memory says the mission was sowing sea mines off the coast of the Netherlands ? correct?

I've actually exchanged a few emails with th son of the surviving air crew member. Nothing recent so I assume he's also a facebook drone now. :)

point '13' in the original document suggests that there may have been - possibly - a gallantry award recommendation in the civilian field - - anyone aware of this award?

Thanks for responding with some really interesting info, and yes i have also read that was their mission as well

I see visibility was 2,500 feet at the time and probably 13 bombers in the group?- 3 in the 'circuit' at the time of the crash. I assume 'circuit' means those getting ready to land.

I would imagine that's what that means, and would make sense if that's how they got caught up in a slipstream.

I think the remark by the survivor regarding slipstream is his last thought before being rendered unconscious - that is he momentarily though the collision with the farmhouse was hitting slipstream, then he was knocked out?

It would be great to get the full report rather that just a few bullet points from the last page. So if anyone is in London soon looking for something to do :) There might be a full copy with the squadron records for this aircraft.

I've just remembered that someone was after Hollydog's photo of the Robson children a while back for some publication. Oops. forgot to reply. :o

19 Stirlings and 12 Halifax’s had been detailed to “sow” their mines off Denmark and the Frisian Islands. On this particular night, Warrant Officer Kerr and his crew where detailed to drop off the Danish coast in Stirling EH880.
Stirling EH880 was one of a batch produced by the Austin Motor Company, Birmingham, to contract B982939/39, and was initially delivered to 75 (New Zealand) Squadron on the 17th May 1943. The Squadron had been operational with the type from November 1942 when Stirlings replaced the Wellingtons it had been flying since April 1940. It would appear, from the movement card, that EH880 suffered some damage in the June, however it was returned to the Squadron on the 24th July, and on the 30th of July it took part on the large Bomber Command raid on Hamburg. It continued to participate in bombing raids, including the large scale attack on the Peenemunde V-2 rocket testing site on the Baltic coast on the 17th/18th August, and on the 18th/19th of November it was one of 18 aircraft put up by the Squadron to attack Mannheim, in the last raid to involve over 100 Stirling’s.
Fog at their home base of RAF Mepal in Cambridgeshire caused the ill-fated diversion to RAF Acklington

The only survivor, the mid upper gunner

I was just looking at a photo of his aircraft type wondering if he was in the tail or the upper gun behind the wings. Now answered!

Lucky man anyway.

I also had e-mail contact with the son of the surviving crew member, I'm sure he won't mind me posting part of the e-mail conversation I had with him, very interesting, tragic , a different world to now that should never be forgotten.

Quote "Only at the end of last year I spoke to the pilot who was next to land behind dads plane and saw the crash. He stated that the weather was fine and not as previous thought weather conditions although they were diverted from Mepal in Cambridgeshire. It appears the crash was due to the plane being shot up with damage to the fuselage.

As you know the crew all died alongside the children and were very close in fact the night before they were out in Cambridge.
My father received burns to side of the face and the ear had to be reconstructed, but was back flying again. You will recall he was awarded the DFM as a result of the crash. During his rehabilitation all the crews family either visited or wrote to him.
He never talked about the crash - both his parents were killed in the blitz as well as two brothers killed at Arnhem. He was a a very unassuming man - high achiever at school - goalkeeper for guildford city and on the books at Arsenal.
Dad continued flying in 1944 again crashing.
He had met my mother prior to the crash who was an RAF intelligence officer. Dad was later commissioned and stayed in the RAF until he retired. I recall back in the fifties while instructing he lent a parachute to his best friend so he could get a flight home for the weekend in Scotland while Dad was out shopping there was a knock at the door with two RAF officers telling my mother he had died in an air crash in North East! of couse it was not dad the shute had his name on it !
Anyway after he retired they moved to Devon unfortunately he died at 66 resulting from injuries from the crash ( loss of kidney) On his final night in the cottage hospital the staff recalled that he relived that night talking with crew and then crashing shouting to George we are going to hit the building later he begged forgiveness for he children loosing their lives.

There was an award to Jim Rowell. Jim and Evelyn were downstairs when the tragedy happened and he dragged the upper gunner to safety. Don't know what the award was or where it went but Evelyn was my Great Aunt - a real character as I remember.

This is fascinating to read, what a life he lived beyond the crash, very lucky man indeed.

I have now found more information concerning Jimmy Rowell and the civilian gallantry award nomination. I will upload it but I am not sure if it can be seen properly? perhaps Mike could make it more readable as it does have a lot of detail of the night.

This is a transcription, I'm not certain regarding the handwritten words:

CASE 2127

James ROWELL — 51 years

Special Constable

4, Dilston Terrace, Amble

Special Constabulary, Northumberland — 5 years

Civil Occupation — Master Butcher

Previous honours — 1914- 18 War Medal; Victory Medal; General Service Medal; Special Constabulary Long Service Medal, 28. 7. 42.

Attempted rescue of crew of crashed and burning aircraft at Cliff House Farm, Amble, during the night of 1st December, 1943.

Recommended by – Chief Constable, Northumberland.

No. 1 (Northern) Regional Commissioner recommends – George Medal dated 21. 12. 43.

Documents
1. Particulars of Action
2. Statement by J. Rowell
3.Statement by Isabella E. Rowell
4. Statement by W. Robson
5. Statement by Wing Commander E.Graham
6. Statement by Sergt Hook
CASE CONSIDERED BY COMMITTEE: 4th Feb., 1944 RECOMMENDATION Com?
[ink stamp] 7. FEB.1944
TREASURY RECOMMENDATION??? GAZETTED 194?.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Copy of Particulars of Action

About 10:30 p.m. on 1st December, 1943, Mr Rowell and his wife were playing cards in the kitchen of Cliff House Farm, with the occupants Mr and Mrs Robson (whose family of 4 girls and 1 boy, ages 9, 7, 5, 3, and 1 year in bed upstairs) when they heard an aeroplane flying low, apparently making for the R.A.F. Station at Acklington, about a mile to the South-West. They only had time to throw themselves on the floor when the house was struck, obviously by the plane, and the whole of the upper storey, together with the top 5 feet of the kitchen walls were carried away. The only part left standing was the staircase and the bottom 5 foot of the kitchen walls.

As will be seen by the statements attached, the 5 children were killed, their bodies being afterwards found, seriously burned, and buried in debris beside the wreckage of the plane which crashed about 50 feet south of the house and took fire. Mr Rowell rushed out with his wife and Mr and Mrs Robson, and he, Mr Rowell, noted in the darkness, ‘something’ moving about in the flames. Mr Rowell went towards this ‘something’ and found what turned out to be the mid upper gunner, who had escaped out of the plane but whose clothing and equipment was on fire. Mr Rowell rolled the gunner on the grass and beat the flames, and got the equipment off him. Mr Rowell was informed by the gunner that there were another 6 men in the plane and in spite of it being on fire and ammunition exploding, he courageously entered the fuselage, but as the plane had broken in two, and the front part was lying at right angles to the rear part, he could not find any other person therein; the plane was burning fiercely by the time Mr Rowell got out and commenced to search for the children of Mr Robson. It was not until 1250 a.m. that the last 3 bodies the children were found. Meanwhile RAF Ambulances and different units of the Fire Brigade arrived, but the charred bodies of the other 6 occupants of the plane were found in the wreckage.

To give an idea of the danger from exploding ammunition, some stacks of straw, approximately 300 yards south of the spot where the plane fell were set on fire by tracer bullets from the wreckage.

In Mr Rowell's list of existing honours it says 'General Service Medal' - do we know what campaign that was for?

Born nov 3rd 1892 - Amble, I am struggling to find any matching James Rowells on ancestry military records. Do you have any other databases? He would have been 22 in 1914 so it would be interesting to find out.
There is a James Rowell born Benwell, coincidently where his father was on 1891 census just before his marriage and moving to Amble, the record has no date, what do you make of it?

This one

Is that the James Rowell Jnr on the Absent Voters List?

Yes - is that our James Rowell from Queen Street on the AVL? - if so the service papers are a different man.
-probable other serving siblings or relatives are John Foster Rowell and George William Rowell.

Yes, James Rowell was Queen st and those two other Rowells mentioned are his brothers (my grandmother Beulah being a sister).They were all brought up (12 kids!!) above the Coop butchers at the time, now the coop funeral parlour.
The service papers I posted presumably are not Jimmy then?

Can only see his medal index card, ties with the absent voters list nicely. Served initially with the Army Service Corps, transferred to the Machine Gun Corps at some point. If the information from the 1942 air crash is correct, that is he is entitled to a 'General Service Medal' then he probably served post war, which could mean his service papers might have survived but are with the MOD.

The two most common immediate post war 'General Service Medal' issues are the India General Service Medal 1908-1936 with the clasp 'Afghanistan N.W.F. 1919' and the General Service Medal 1918-62 with the clasp 'Iraq'. There are other less common clasps; for the former medal - Waziristan 1919-21 and Malabar 1921-22; and for the latter - 'S. Persia', 'Kurdistan' and 'N.W. Persia'.

Interestingly quite a large number of Machine Gun Corps companies were deployed in the 1919 Afghanistan campaign, but I cannot find him on the roll for that medal, or in fact any of the other campaigns. Very frustrating. :mad:

Many thanks for your research.
John Foster Rowell lost a finger in the Dardenelles, another Brit out there amongst the ANZACS.
We have covered on another thread an apprentice of N and F Young who left for Oz in 1912 and found himself in Gallipoli a few years later. I will be taking part in this years remembrance parade with him in mind - Phillip Hall Amble Anzac buried in Alexandria

Replying a little late here, but I've just been researching family history - my father's aunt was Evelyn, married to Jim Rowell. Ancestry has a full copy of the recommendation for a Civilian Gallantry Award, with statements from Jim and Evelyn, as well as the Robsons, and the injured airman.

According to the record, Mr Rowell received an Expression of Commendation from His Majesty the King, which was to be published in the London Gazette on 4th April 1944. Ancestry has some archived copies of the London Gazette, but unfortunately not for this date, so I haven't been able to find the actual Commendation.

Your great aunt was Evelyn, my great uncle was Jimmy Rowell (dads side)
Bill and Norah Robson were my great uncle and aunty, mums side.
My mum and dad were 4 and 3 years old at the time!

I stumbled across this while browsing today. https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.a...document/25665

It's a pdf document of the Pilot's flying log book for George Alexander Mackie, covering the period from 24 September 1943 to 17 February 1946.

He flew with 214 squadron based at Chedburgh in Suffolk at the time and was on the same mission as the EH880 crew. On pages 8 and 9, there are details of the mission they undertook on the 1 December. It mentions them 'gardening' (RAF term for mine laying) in the Baltic off a place called Laeso (part of an island off the South East coast of Denmark). At 15.20 they were diverted to Acklington.

Page 9 has a newspaper article cut out about the crash.

Thanks for posting this. I have not seen that particular newspaper article before.
The Robson children are my mother's cousins.
Jimmy Rowell who saved the airman's life is my dad's uncle.
- John Young