The heroes of Flight DV 279

Almost 61 years ago to the day, as the battle for Europe was entering its final phase, a Lancaster Bomber limped back over Norfolk from a raid in France.

Badly damaged by anti-aircraft fire, Flying Officer Clark, the Canadian pilot fought with the controls to stay airborne.

It was the night of the 18th/19th of July 1944.

He tried to land the damaged bomber at Seething, twice making a circuit of the airfield. But Clark was experienced enough to know they were not going to make it, and the rest of his crew bailed out. They were later picked up in the meadow behind Bergh Apton Church.

It is believed that Clark stayed at the controls as his Lancaster came down, almost clipping the tops of cottages in Brooke. It caught in power lines and then crashed in flames on farmland having just missed the homes of sleeping residents.

The records of the 550 Squadron Association list Royal Canadian Airforce Flying Officer H A T Clark as killed on 18/19 July 1944.

What was left of Flight DV 279, was cleared away by a fire team. It was on the scene very quickly. The crew were later taken to Seething Airfield, and flown back to their base at 550 Squadron, Waltham, near Grimsby in Lincolnshire. Squadron motto: Through Fire We Conquer.

Recently, Leonard and Iris Adams of Burgess Way, Brooke reported that they had again found some World War II ammunition in their back garden. They moved into their home in 1948, and both remember digging up ammunition and other metal objects when they started clearing the garden. They unearthed aircraft dials, door hinges and other objects.

This time, Mr Adams reported his recent ammunition find, and took some along to show a meeting of Brooke Parish Council. This ammunition has since been removed by police, and the RAF’s Bomb Disposal Unit have visited Mr and Mrs Adams to investigate the ammunition - there are no unexploded bombs on the site - the Lancaster disposed of its entire bomb load over the target.

Mr Adams said:

"Over the course of the years I have found ammunition in the garden, as well as bits and pieces of aircraft dashboard and nuts and bolts, bits of ammunition belt and so on. Me and our neighbour used to laugh about it over the fence and right up until last Saturday, I found some more

Mrs Adams said:

"Lots of people remember the plane coming down on nearby farmland. It crashed about 500 yards from a little row of cottages, and of course everyone would have been asleep in those houses.

"We met the RAF bomb squad to discuss their digging for more ammunition and they were very helpful. I asked them if they would get in touch with Alan Titchmarsh afterwards so that we could have a garden make-over!"

South Norfolk District Councillor John Fuller, who represents Brooke said:

"Although it's over 60 years ago, many local people remember the Americans based at Seething Airfield and the Italian prisoners of war who farmed the land surrounding Brooke Hall.

"It's finds such as these that bring old memories into sharp focus as acts of bravery and sacrifice are remembered."

Adrian Nicholas, South Norfolk Council’s senior environmental health officer, who has also been involved in the find, said:

"The RAF Bomb Disposal Team were very helpful and professional. They told us that ammunition finds like these are not uncommon and are a negligible risk. They said it was good that individual ammunition rounds were being found, and not ammunition belts -that's because the fire team which attended the crash took away much of this kind of debris.

"They recommend that if people find ammunition or anything else of this type, that they contact the police.

"I am grateful to local residents, especially Mr and Mrs Adams, to the museum at Flixton which gave us so much information and advice and to the many others for their help in our investigation."

It is also understood that an RAF officer who had worked on the aircraft was staying in the village at the time. He had commented that Flight DV 279 had been involved in a mid-air collision earlier in the year and had been repaired.

Subsequently it had been found hard to fly with a poor rate of climb and Flying Officer Clark was the only pilot who would fly it.

Ministry of Defence records confirm that a raid took place on Courtrai during which some aircraft were lost over the target area due to anti-aircraft fire. They also confirm that one aircraft crashed on the return journey on that July date.

Related pages

• Latest news