Newmarket Hill (under construction)

Tag: WWII

  • WW2 Dakota Disaster: Sunday 19th November 1944

    1944 Dakota plane crash, looking NW, with the trees of Balmer Farm top right in the far distance, Cranedean Plantation below it in the central distance to the right of the wing, and the W edge of Newmarket Plantation closest right. Top left, the woods of Stanmer Park can be seen in far distance. The village of Falmer is hidden behind the central part of the plane’s wreckage.

    This year marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day. A crucial element of our success was an American workhorse transport plane, the Douglas C-47, otherwise known as the Dakota. Some five and a half months after our initial invasion, on Sunday 19th November 1944, a routine transport of mostly American troops from France ended in disaster, immediately north of the Balsdean Downs — almost exactly midway between Brighton and Lewes. It was the worst recorded plane crash on British soil to that date.

    A technical report stated:

    Douglas (Model DC-3A-456) C-47A-80-DL, msn 19512, USAAF serial number 43-15046, crashes at Lewes, Sussex, England, at 1510 hours local. The aircraft strikes a hill while flying in low overcast, explodes and burns; 25 of the 30 people aboard are killed.

    The exact location of this air-crash appears to have been lost in recent years. Based on photographs it can be identified as being approximately 140 metres south-southwest of the southern edge of Newmarket Plantation, on the north side of the Newmarket Hill ridge, at a point from where Balmer Farm is (more or less) in line with the centre of Cranedean Plantation and the western edge of Newmarket Plantation (TQ 3677 0771). One of the first to arrive at the accident site was a friend’s mother driving an ambulance, as well as schoolboys from Woodingdean who’d seen the flames from over the hill. At the time it was well reported in the press, and various Internet sources have provided further details.

    It was stated that the USAAF (439th Troop Carrier Group) military flight departed Chateaudun Airport (LFOC), France and was destined for Newbury-Greenham Common RAF Station (EWY/EGVI), United Kingdom. It was carrying 25 passengers (23 personnel of the 92nd Troop Carrier Squadron, 1 from Group Headquarters, 9th Air Force Troop Carrier Command) and 2 French civilians), 4 or 5 crew, as well as 13 type B-4 bags and all personal equipment. Aircraft was not believed to have been overloaded.

    They encountered poor weather conditions on route. At the time of the accident, the cloud ceiling was low with a maximum horizontal visibility estimated at 800 meters. In addition, the wind was blowing from the south at an estimated speed of fifteen knots. It was elsewhere reported reported as flying at minimum altitude with minimum visibility — apparently a not uncommon occurrence — and that in attempting to descend, after clearing a 645′ hill, the aircraft probably was forced into the ground by the turbulent weather (or crashed into cloud-shrouded Newmarket Hill at a height of 600 feet (180 m) [though I prefer Castle Hill, for reasons given below]). The aircraft was being flown by an experienced crew and at such a low altitude, an unexpected downdraught might have forced the aircraft down before the crew could react to and counteract it (this tallies with the wind direction and topography based on my proposed crash location given above). According to a survivor onboard there was an electrical failure so: “They did not have their lights to see the hill nor the equipment to know their height or direction”. Another report gives the flight direction as being from England to France (I believe this may be wrong; see below). It burst into flames after crashing, and wreckage was strewn over a wide area. ARP workers ran 2 miles to the crash site (the distance from Woodingdean ARP First-Aid Post) and rendered what assistance they could.

    Crew:
    Pilot1st Lt. Donald Q [O] ReidUSAAFKilled
    NavigatorT Sgt. Walter J JamesUSAAFSevere burns
    Sgt. Bryce D HackingUSAAFBurns and other injuries
    Sgt. Orazio R TogliaUSAAFBurns and other injuries
    Cpl. Eric AckermanUSAAFBurns and other injuries
    Passengers:
    92nd Transport Squadron:
    Pilot1st Lt. Roy L GritzUSAAFKilled
    Navigator1st Lt Stanley E LisUSAAFKilled
    Pilot2nd Lt. Russell W BarronUSAAFKilled
    Crew ChiefT Sgt. John H YoungUSAAFKilled
    Crew ChiefT Sgt. Howard F WhiteUSAAFKilled
    Glider MechS Sgt. Donald S HorstickUSAAFKilled
    Instr. SpecialistS Sgt. James H HollyUSAAFKilled
    CrewChief S Sgt. Arthur M HackettUSAAFKilled
    CookSgt. Barbato C D’AndreaUSAAFKilled
    EngineerSgt. Joseph H AlbaUSAAFKilled
    Glider MechSgt. Jake E HesserUSAAFKilled
    BakerSgt. Felix R SobkowiakUSAAFKilled
    EngineerSgt. William HicksonUSAAFKilled
    Glider MechSgt. Sherman W MillerUSAAFKilled
    Glider MechSgt. Harold F MillsUSAAFKilled
    TransportCpl. Richard M JonesUSAAFKilled
    EngineerCpl. Paul A KokkoUSAAFKilled
    EngineerCpl. Charles W EvenickUSAAFKilled
    Refuel. UnitPfc. Byron G PeacockUSAAFKilled
    TransportPvt. Roland P LariviereUSAAFKilled
    EngineerPvt. Frank R Mix[n]er
    9th Air Force Troop Carrier Command
    Group HeadquartersUnidentifiedUSAAFKilled
    UnidentifiedUnidentifiedFrenchmanKilled
    UnidentifiedUnidentifiedFrenchmanBadly injured
    The clearance document showed the aircraft had 30 personnel aboard, including crew, though the above list only gives 29. Of the 6 injured, 2 died the same day, at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton.

    One report gave the accident as occurring 5 km (3 miles) NE of Brighton. This is more or less correct only if measured from Black Rock, the eastern most part of urban Brighton, not from the town centre. I believe that this, the references to Newmarket Hill, and the IWM photo notes, may have led people to have misidentified the site and orientation of the crash. The photographs clearly show the tail pointing approximately eastwards, strongly indicating the flight path to be more or less from the east, westwards. Chateaudun Airbase is to the SSE of the crash site, and RAF Greenham Common, to the NW. A direct route would have taken them over considerably more open water of the English Channel, which may have been an issue if flying in low visibility without instruments. If I am right, its flight path led it to encounter turbulence whilst crossing Castle Hill, approximately 1 km to the east of Newmarket Hill.

    https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.8513355,-0.056931,21a,35y,316.41h,79.05t/data=!3m1!1e3

    References:

    Rainbow west of Newmarket Plantation.
    Rainbow west of Newmarket Plantation, a short distance from the Dakota crash site.

  • Leonard Morris’s Live Bullet handed in to police

    Last year, on a site visit, I found what I thought might have been a WWII live bullet. But when it was pointed out to me that it may be both dangerous and even illegal to possess I decided it was time to hand it in to the police.

    Before doing so I recorded it the best I could with just a simple ruler and a camera – and noticed what might be some writing on its green copper and rusty iron coloured corroded base. Being without specialist solvents, I chose to use some household methylated spirits to clean its base.

    Rosette crimped blank .303 cartidge, made by The Royal Laboratory, Woolwich Arsenal, 1893-1904
    Rosette crimped blank .303 cartidge, made by The Royal Laboratory, Woolwich Arsenal, 1893-1904.

    Rosette crimped blank .303 cartidge, made by The Royal Laboratory, Woolwich Arsenal, 1893-1904
    Rosette crimped blank .303 cartidge, made by The Royal Laboratory, Woolwich Arsenal, 1893-1904.

    Rosette crimped blank .303 cartidge, made by The Royal Laboratory, Woolwich Arsenal, 1893-1904
    Rosette crimped blank .303 cartidge, made by The Royal Laboratory, Woolwich Arsenal, 1893-1904.

    Rosette crimped blank .303 cartidge, made by The Royal Laboratory, Woolwich Arsenal, 1893-1904
    Rosette crimped blank .303 cartidge, made by The Royal Laboratory, Woolwich Arsenal, 1893-1904.

    Case type (Rimmed, bottleneck)

                        Find      .303
Bullet diameter     ~8mm      7.9mm
Neck diameter       ~9mm      8.6mm
Shoulder diameter   ~10.5mm   10.2mm
Base diameter       ~11mm     11.7mm
Rim diameter        ~13mm     13.7mm
Rim thickness       ~1.5mm    1.6mm
Case length         ~54mm     56.4mm

    My approximate measurements indicate this is a .303 cartidge. The Headstamp – R ^ L C II – shows it was made by The Royal Laboratory, Woolwich Arsenal, 1893-1904, and was a Mark 2 cartridge with cordite as the propellant. The rosette crimped nose means it was a blank.

    My research was entirely from the websites of passionate experts, the best of which I give below:

    So how might a blank rifle cartridge marking the very end of Queen Victoria’s Reign and the start of the Edwardian Period get to be associated with a farm labourer’s cottage and farmyard? I need to do a little research but I recall seeing photographs of army camps in both Kingston and Falmer of around this time. My idea is that it was probably used in army training exercises on the Downs, children may have taken it, and hidden it, until it was found by me a hundred years later. The Davey family in the 1901 Census had no children, but by 1911 the 12 year old schoolboy Leonard Morris, nephew of Frederick and Fanny Moon, was staying in Newmarket Farm. He is definitely my favourite as the person who secretly possessed this dangerous treasure.

  • New WWII Archaeology on the Downs?

    Really excited that after a walk to Castle Hill nature reserve, on the side of Newmarket Hill, I may have found some new archaeology!

    At TQ36470682, just above the edge of the steep sided Newmarket Bottom, was a spread of small (about 1cm diameter) pebbles associated with a 5m diameter roughly levelled off platform. It was sited just at the point of maximum visibility down into the valley bottom.

    Apparently during the Second World War there was a particular concern that paratroopers would drop down into remote downland valleys at night. Therefore big lights were stationed at suitable positions to spot them.

    I have as yet no idea what they looked like, but I have been informed there was one on the corner of the Falmer Road looking down into Bevendean valley.

    I guess the next thing to do is to pass these details on to the East Sussex Historic Environment Record Officer (HER), who is based in Lewes.

    Most of the Downs beyond Brighton were requisitioned by the armed forces during the last war. There should certainly be lots of archaeology dating to this time. Only since I started to study the history of Newmarket Farm have I become aware of the importance of modern archaeology, and how easily it can be lost.