We are very grateful to Jeff Beaumont who has written this detailed account of the 1941 plane crash in Histon Rd

“It was a very regrettable accident. We are living in unusual times and unusual things happen, of which this regrettable incident was one. The verdict will be one of Accidental Death” - Borough Coroner Mr. W R Willis

The above are the concluding remarks of the Coroner who oversaw the inquest into the deaths of the three victims of the air crash on Histon Road that is recounted in Faruk’s Histon Road – A Community Remembers.

The recollections of the speaker, although a child at the time, offer a glimpse into a small, neighbourhood tragedy that would otherwise go unremembered in the context of the wider War. Full of the sorts of small details and observations that would never make a newspaper report or official inquiry but nevertheless provide a very human insight to the community.

To me, they also prompt a number of other questions - who were our unfortunate, unsuspecting victims? What were the circumstances of the accident? And, as someone with a long-standing interest in RAF operations during this era, which aircraft was involved, and from where? The following has been assembled from a number of publicly-available, online sources.

Some searching brought up contemporary newspaper reports that help fill in some of the gaps (various excerpts):

“The inquest was held at Cambridge today on Miss Catharine Allen, aged 71, Mrs. Ann Worland, aged 71, and Mrs. Ada Sarah Blackwell, aged 74, all of Histon-road, Cambridge, who were killed when an RAF bomber crashed on top of their houses in the early hours...”

“...A fourth woman, Mrs. Mary Hewitt, aged 82, was taken to hospital with shock. The plane whose crew was not injured, caught the tops of the cottages, demolishing the upper storeys, and came to rest on a tennis court at the back.”

“...PC George Smith said that at 2.25am he was on duty in Histon Road when he saw a large plane flying very low. It struck the roofs on one side of the road and then crashed into the houses on the other side of the road, falling into the gardens behind the houses.”

This is confirmed in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s registers of Civilian War Dead and also provides a date: 12 February 1941.

Ann Worland of 1 Roseneath Villas, Histon Road. Widow of Arthur J. Worland.

Ada Sarah Blackwell of 2 Roseneath Villas, Histon Road. Daughter of the late William and Mary Bright, of 19 Jesus Lane; widow of John William Blackwell.

Catherine Allen of Haileyfield House, Histon Road. Daughter of the late Charles Stephen and Sarah Ann Phipps Allen, of 21 Corona Road.

From this information, it is possible to work backwards to create a short biography of each woman. While there are some considerable gaps, it gives some idea of their lives that brought them to Histon Road.

Catherine Allen was born in the January quarter of 1870 in Brampton, Huntingdonshire, to Charles Stephen & Sarah Ann Phipps Allen. Her father was a Coach Maker and her mother a ‘Fancy Dealer & Stationer’ on the High Street. In the 1891 and 1901 Census, she was working as a Post Office Clerk in Brampton, and by 1911 had moved to Godmanchester. Catherine was killed at 147 Histon Road, and is buried with her sister, Lydia Mary Lovell (d. 2 Mar 1940), in the Histon Road Cemetery.

Ann Worland was born 14 Aug 1869 in Ely to John & Mary Sindall / Sindle / Sindell (spellings vary). In the September quarter of 1892, she married Arthur James Worland, a gardener, in Cambridge, and is recorded in the 1901 census as a Laundress. By 1911, she and her husband had 6 children, and from the 1913 Cambridge trade directory, appear to be living at 184 Victoria Road. Arthur James Worland died on Aug 16 1928, aged 57, and in the National Register taken in 1939, the widowed Ann is recorded as a Charwoman and living at 1 Roseneath, Histon Road. After her death, she was interred with her husband in Histon Road Cemetery.

Ada Sarah Blackwell was born in the March quarter of 1867 in Cambridge to William & Mary Bright. She was baptised at Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge, on 21 Apr 1867 and her parents are recorded as living at 4 Portugal Place, Cambridge. Her father was working as a College Servant. She married John William Blackwell, a Railway Company Agent, in the September quarter of 1889 in Ordsall, Nottinghamshire, and was living on Queen Street, Ordsall, in the 1891 Census with her husband and 1 daughter. By 1901, Ada was widowed and back in Cambridge with her children, working as a University Lodging House Keeper. Ada was killed at 2 Roseneath Villas.

Mary Ann Hewitt was born on 23 Feb 1860 in Barley in Hertfordshire, to Charles & Elizabeth Machon. Her father was a shoemaker, and she was baptised on 22 Apr 1860 at St Margaret of Antioch in Barley. The 1881 Census shows her as a Housemaid in Therfield, Herts, and she married William Hewitt, an Innkeeper from Cambridge, on 27 Oct 1885 at St Margaret of Antioch in Barley. The family appears to have settled at the British Queen at 100 Histon Road (1891 Census) until moving to 2 Roseneath, Histon Road where William Hewitt passed away on 7 June 1928. Mary survived the night of 12 Feb 1941, and passed away a year later at 58 Histon Road on 16 March 1942.

The latter two are also likely to be buried in Histon Road Cemetery. Although it is the site of over 8000 burials, only about 1350 are now marked with any memorial.

The Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was a Vickers Wellington Ic, serial number R1004, ‘KO-U’, from 115 Squadron, based at RAF Marham. The Wellington was a twin-engined, long range medium bomber, and made up a large proportion of the RAF’s bomber fleet at the outbreak of war in 1939. Capable of carrying 4,500 lb (2,000 kg) of bombs more than 2,000 miles, it earned a reputation as a very tough, reliable aircraft. While it was gradually replaced as the mainstay of Bomber Command from late 1942 by the ‘Heavies’ such as the Avro Lancaster and Handley-Page Halifax, it nevertheless served right the way through the war in many capacities.

‘Target for Tonight’

This particular aircraft took off from RAF Marham at 1823 hours on the night of 11/12 February 1941, one of 14 aircraft from 115 Squadron detailed to attack the target ‘Town 9’ - Hanover and Bremen. This was part of an overall effort of 79 aircraft attacking Bremen and 29 aircraft attacking Hannover.

The ‘Met’, or weather forecast, was noted as ‘Fine with considerable fog patches’. In reality, very bad visibility prevented most aircraft from finding their targets. Intense fog developed on their return, and many aircraft were forced to divert to other aerodromes. No aircraft were lost due to enemy action, but 22 aircraft of the 79 despatched to attack Bremen were lost on their return as a result of fog and thick cloud, including two from 115 Squadron.

One aircraft was that of the Squadron’s Commanding Officer, 19018 Wing Commander Anthony Caron Evans-Evans and crew in R3238, 'KO-H', who managed to return to Marham where the weather was too bad to attempt a landing. The crew bailed out, and the aircraft crashed near Saffron Walden. All crew descended safely except for W/C Evans-Evans, who injured an ankle on landing and was hospitalised.

The second aircraft lost was R1004, 'KO-U'. The Operations Record Book, a daily record of events kept by each Squadron throughout the war, records the following:

"A/C. U R1004, (P/O. CLARKE, Captain). Owing to 10/10 clouds it was not possible to identify target, and bombs were dropped over Flak and Searchlight positions in target area. A course was set for Base, and on reaching Base area, received W/T instruction to proceed to WYTTON*. Owing to W/T congestion it was not found practical to communicate with WYTTON. W/T instructions were again received to proceed to NEWMARKET and subsequently MILDENHALL. Due to 10/10th clouds it was not possible to locate either aerodrome. Owing to lack of petrol, it was decided to Bale out. All members of the Crew made successful descents, and the aircraft crashed at NEWSTEN Rd., CAMBRIDGE, and was wrecked beyond repair."

(* WYTTON = RAF Wyton)

"Newsten Road" is of course Histon Road. A newspaper photo of the aftermath, shown in the video at 08:16, shows the distinctive frontages with the crenelated bay windows that still can be see on the modern-day 147 Histon Road, and what is now 151-153 Histon Road but was then known as 1 and 2 Roseneath Villas. There is a rather nifty map here that confirms it.

The Crew

As for the crew of R1004, who were they? They are briefly recorded in the Squadron’s Operations Record Book as follows:

P/O Clarke (Pilot)

Sgt Douglas (Second Pilot)

Sgt Tilson (Navigator)

Sgt White (W/T Op)

Sgt Hoy (Front Gunner)

Sgt Campbell (Rear Gunner)

This was a relatively new crew, with P/O Clarke posted in from 15 OTU at Harwell on 10 Jan 1941, and Sgt Douglas and the rest of the crew posted in from Bassingbourn (likely 11 OTU) on 14 Dec 1940. Prior to the night of 11-12 Feb 1941, they had completed 4 other Operations (15-16 Jan 1941 – Wilhelmshaven & Rotterdam, 04 Feb 1941 - Le Havre, 07 Feb 1941 – Boulogne, and 10-11 Feb 1941, Hannover & Rotterdam).

P/O Clarke was 42193 Pilot Officer Peter Alexander CLARKE. He joined the RAF in 1939 and received a short-service commission[1] on 09 Dec 1939. In the aftermath of the crash, P/O Clarke gave evidence at the inquest, held in the Cambridge Guildhall on 14 February 1941. Later, he was promoted Flying Officer (9th Mar 1941), Flight Lieutenant (9th Mar 1942), and he ended the war as Acting Squadron Leader and flight commander in 512 Squadron, and received the Distinguished Flying Cross in June 1945.

Sgt Douglas was 936378 Sergeant James Irwin DOUGLAS. Commissioned as Pilot Officer on 22 May 1942 (new number as an Officer 127137) and then promoted Flying Officer on 22 Nov 1942. He was killed in an accident as a passenger aboard Lockheed Hudson mk VI FK618 on 30 Jun 1943 when the aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from Khartoum, Sudan, on a flight to Takoradi, Ghana. He appears to have been working as a ferry pilot delivering new aircraft around the Africa theatre when he was killed. He was the son of Alexander and Eileen Mary Douglas, of Dalbeattie, Kirkcudbrightshire. CWGC Entry.

Sgt Tilson, I believe may be 759303 Sergeant Cyril Garnett TILSON. He was awarded a Mention in Dispatches in the Gazette of 01 Jan 1942. He was also commissioned Pilot Officer on 15 Jul 1942 (new number 127792) and promoted Flying Officer on 15 Jan 1943. He was killed on 18th January 1943 aboard 9 Squadron Avro Lancaster B.1 W4157. This aircraft took off at 1658 hrs on 17 Jan 1943 from Waddington and was lost without trace. He was the son of William Garnett Tilson and Alice Louisa Crouch Tilson, of Southampton. CWGC entry.

It has not been possible to further identify Sgt White, Sgt Hoy, or Sgt Campbell at this point.

You may think that after such an experience as this crew had, they might get some time to recover. Instead, they were back on Ops on 23 Feb 1941 in Wellington T2511, 'KO-P', this time one of 14 aircraft detailed to attack Target CO49, the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper which was in Brest. The Operations Record Book records:-

"A/C P T2511 P/O CLARKE, Captain, after taking off, found that trimming gear was not functioning correctly, and that artificial horizon was off centre. Owing to cloud he decided to return. On landing, an approach was made by lining up with the beam of the Chance light. The glim lights were invisible. On touching down, thinking he was approaching a hangar, he applied brakes and turned to starboard, but was unable to halt the aircraft and crashed into some trees West of the aerodrome. The aircraft was damaged (Cat. A.C) but crew were uninjured."

After this second incident, both P/O Clarke and Sgt Douglas were posted back to 3 Group Training Flight on 04 Mar 1941. Sgt Tilson is the only one that appears to remain with the squadron.

A Harsh Winter

The first three winters of the war were some of the hardest, coldest winters of the 20th century. Indeed, the winter of 1939-40 was the coldest for 45 years, and February 1941 was little better, with heavy snow, blizzards, and fog across much of the country. Meteorology was still a relatively inexact science at the time, and even phenomena such as the jet stream were not properly understood until after the war. The RAF devoted considerable effort into improving the accuracy of their weather forecasting, although they were greatly hampered by the lack of weather observation data from Europe. Navigation of aircraft was largely dependent on visual observation, a compass, a sextant, a stopwatch – and the weather forecast – to help crews plot out their course and track their progress to the target and back again.

This particular raid was part of a new offensive to target Germany’s oil production capacity, with the hopes of slashing production by up to 80% if the leading nine oil plants could be destroyed. The offensive opened with the largest operation of the war to date on the night of 10/11 February, with 222 aircraft despatched to attack industrial targets in Hannover, and a further 43 aircraft targetting oil storage tanks in Rotterdam. Good results and few losses were reported, and there may have been some optimism of similar good results from operations the following night, 11/12 February.

Instead, the severity of the situation faced by crews on their return that night needs no further illustration than the number that were forced to bale out, despite strenuous efforts to find an aerodrome to land safely. Two other accounts of the night can be read here and here.

While 22 aircraft were lost, only 5 aircrew were killed. To the names of those five men, we can add those of Catherine Allen, Ann Worland, and Ada Sarah Blackwell, ultimately, victims of the British weather and an inaccurate forecast amidst the pressures of war to deliver a crippling blow to the enemy.

With the passage of time, and as the Second World War passes out of living memory, projects such as this to ensure that the memories and anecdotes of everyday, local people are captured and preserved, are an important way to ensure that these experiences are not lost to time, and that – A Community Remembers.

[1] This was an initiative set up after the First World War to encourage young men to join for a 6-year period, usually as pilots, with the prospect of a 'permanent' commission if they took to service life or, once discharged, they remained on the Reserve as a pool of trained and experienced men that could be rapidly called up and deployed to front-line Squadrons if war should break out.

One of our major contributors has been Ann Whitmore who was brought up at 75a Histon Road with her parents, 2 aunts and 7 siblings. As a child her family received donations of bread and soup from St John's College which she writes about on page 17 and 18. The archivist at St John's explains that this was a practice probably remaining from medieval times, when it was still a hospital. The practice was subsequently handed over to the WRVS as part of their 'Meals on Wheels' service. Coincidentally Ann, without knowing about this connection, had become a volunteer with the WRVS when she was an adult, delivering meals on wheels in Histon. With thanks to the Master, Fellows and Scholars of St John's College, we are able to reproduce the recipe for 'The Poor's Soup' that dates from the 1950s (when they had omitted the beef!).

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From 'Histon - On and Off the Rails' at: https://histonandimpingtonvillagesociety.wordpress.com/. We are grateful to them for sending this article:

The Royal Visit to Chivers in Histon and Cambridge on Thursday 20th October 1955

The Royal Train on Thursday 20th October 1955 conveyed HM The Queen and Prince Philip from London, (probably King’s Cross) to Cambridge. The Cambridge Daily News reported that:

“A tremendous welcome greeted the Queen as she arrived at Cambridge station. Crowds had been waiting in the rain for over two hours and school children were tired of the delay. The glass roof of the station platform sprang a leak and a man was sent aloft to cover it with green waterproof. Exactly on time at 11 o’clock, the train drew in and Her Majesty stepped gracefully onto the platform. The women onlookers gasped as they took in the details of her dress, a fitting emerald green coat with black fur collar, green hat and black handbag.

Then it was time to leave for Chivers at Histon and the train waiting there. Great efforts were put in to complete the new local main sewage system before the Queen and Prince Philip arrived since the roads had been opened up and needed to be put back in place in time.

On to the station where the Royal Train was waiting, with the dedicated, highly polished locomotive Royal Sovereign stopped across the level crossing.

20th October 1955. A very clean 61671 Royal Sovereign at Cambridge that morning, outside the station locomotive shed. Lots of railway officials were keeping an eye on things, despite the wet weather. Credit: The Starling Collection.

When the Monarch was on board a royal train, the front indicator code was for all four lamps to be displayed on the smoke box of the locomotive. For the return journey, the train had to be got to Histon in time and placed in the up platform there with the locomotive facing towards Cambridge. To achieve this and avoiding any risks with working the carriages ‘wrong line’ all the way from Chesterton Junction, it is probable that the whole train was routed via Ely, March (for turning on the triangle there) and St Ives. Other traffic on the line through Histon would have been halted temporarily.

At Histon a special canopy had been erected at the station entrance leading out towards the road for the royal party to use. Then the train pulled out slowly to take them back to Cambridge and on to London.

The book is available at the Histon & Impington meetings. Copyright is with them.

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We loved the wide range of letters and emails from people who read and appreciated A Community Remembers: Histon Road and told us more about the area. A prime example was a contribution to our history section in Chapter 1 where Alison Wilson described the prehistory of Histon Road going back to the iron age. Professor Philip Gibbard at the Scott Polar Research Institute, took Histon Road back even further - to around c.125,000 years ago:

‘Histon Road was the site of an early study of interglacial deposits using the then relatively new technique of pollen analysis. This technique involves the identification of plant remains and especially fossil pollen to determine the plants that lived during the period in which the deposits were formed. As you’ll see from the attached articles, the site has been repeatedly studied in detail here in Cambridge at the University’s Botany Department (now Plant Sciences) from the late 1940s. The research was led by Professor Sir Harry Godwin and latterly by his student Professor Richard West (deceased in December 2020). It was most recently studied by Dr Steve Boreham in his thesis for the Open University. The site of these investigations were “between Arbury and Histon Roads”, which I take to be the allotments field. The deposits were laid down in a channel of the River Cam under a temperate climate. They date from the last interglacial period.’

This is one of the articles Philip pointed us to which you can access online: Sparks, B. W. and West, R. G.: The Palaeoecology of the Interglacial Deposits at Histon Road, Cambridge, E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 10, 123–147, https://doi.org/10.3285/eg.10.1.12, 1959.

Beth Lane, née Theobold, lived in Roseford Road and the book lit up her childhood memories:

‘Yesterday I was given a copy of A Community Remembers, Histon Road as an 84th birthday gift because I was born at 66, Roseford Road. I have spent this morning reliving my childhood! I do wish that I had known about this as I could have added so much more to it!

‘My Grandfather was Harry Bicheno, he was not an Australian, he was 100% English, hailing from the village of Over, I have the family history as far back as the 1500’s, neither was he a builder, he worked in partnership with a builder, he was in fact a Silver Service Waiter at Sidney Sussex College and something of an entrepreneur! He had ten children, my mother was his youngest, she married Sidney Theobald in 1936 and my Grandfather built their house and most of the houses down that side of the road including number 53, for his son Wally Bicheno and 54 for his daughter Doris Bailey. He also had a hand in building part of Bishops Road, Trumpington and a house there for another daughter Marjorie who married Stan Carter. Oh, I could tell you so much more!

‘I could also name many of the people in the large photo on page 102/3 including myself! The map on page 78 shows numbers 68 and 69 Roseford Road, in fact number 66, my home was the last house and ‘the ditch’ as we called it ran beside our garden through the fields at the back, across Arbury Road into somewhere near Histon where it opened out into a pond in which lived newts, frogs sticklebacks etc. Truly a child’s paradise!

'On page 117 you have a Miss Shry as Headmistress, she was in fact Miss Shrive. Please please don’t think that I am nit picking, I have so enjoyed your wonderful book, it has brought back so many extremely happy memories, should you want any more please get in touch, I am only in Ely.'

Githa St.John-Ives wrote:

'My somewhat cantankerous strawberry roan pony named 'Strawberry', lived at the old Chivers Farm through the lay-by before the A14 flyover. Delightful fruit orchards once stood in the distance on the land that is now being developed into housing - I recall the familiar aroma of fallen apples and fresh grass on dewy mornings and sunny afternoons. No doubt the days of the delicious greengage trees are now numbered, but I shan't dwell on that for too long. Farm hand, Fred, and his wife Elsie, lived in the ancient crumbling farmhouse with a collection of ankle-biting Jack Russell terrorists, always ready to take a chunk. The old stables were full of vintage horse brasses, dusty leathers and a sizeable array of pigeon homing accoutrements. Despite its close proximity to the A14, the oak tree sunsets in the furthest fields were quite spectacular. It was a fascinating place, somewhat disconnected from the modern world, and a big part of my formative years.'

And Mary Lockwood wrote about a postcard [see below] that shows the top of Histon and Victoria Roads:

'I treasure a postcard sent by my grandfather to my grandmother (who lived with her great aunt in the almshouses at the top of Shelley Row). It is postmarked April 1907 - so would be early in their relationship, when he was ‘wooing’ her. The picture shows the junction from Huntingdon Rd looking into Victoria Rd, with a glimpse of the Victoria Tavern & the Histon Rd corner to the left. Two men are in the middle of the otherwise deserted road. One of the men is on a bicycle and was posed in conversation with the other, standing. Behind them can be seen the back of a horse and cart. Grandad’s postcard message asks whether the recipient thinks she can see someone she knows. The man standing (wearing cloth cap working clothes) we understand to be my grandfather who worked as a miller (at French’s Mill) and would take the horse & cart out with deliveries - to bakeries & often to the railway station.'

Finally, in Chapter 3 we wondered whether there was a connection between the house plaques [see below] on the side of 26 Benson Street with E.W. Benson, who was Archbishop of Canterbury, and hence the names of Benson, Canterbury and Priory Streets. The timing of 1883 was spot on. But no! we had 2 people write in with proof that the plaques show the Duke of Wellington. He died in 1852, but house plaques and wall ties were made at a foundry in Derby, and added to this house. Oh well!