Drew, William Edward

Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) William Edward
Surname Drew
Gender M
Age 28
Decorations MiD
Date of Death 13-04-1941
Next of Kin Son of William and Mary Drew. Husband of Edwardena Drew, of Barrow-In-Furness, Lancashire.
DREW WE

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Anson I
Serial Number N9857
Markings XF-F

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Inchnadamph (Or Kirkton) Old Churchyard
Grave Reference Memorial Panel.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 1
Panel Number 30

Enlistment Information

Service Number 45356
Service Royal Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 19 OTU
Trade Observer
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Other Memorials

Location Kirkton Cemetery, Inchnadamph, Highlands, Scotland
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stone Cairn & Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text Here are commemorated the crew of an aircraft crashed on Ben More on 13th April 1941
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Location Remote Location, Ben More Assynt, Loch Meall nan Coarach, Highlands, Scotland
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Incribed Stone Cairn
Memorial Text Here lie the crew of Anson N9857 who crashed in bad weather during a navigation training exercise on 13 April 1941
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Location Off A96, Balnageith near Forres, Grampian, Scotland
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stone Cairn, Inscribed Metal Plaques & Aircraft Sculpture
Memorial Text Dedicated to all who served with 19 OTU, RAF Forres
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Miscellaneous Information

Mentioned in despatches September 1941

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Fellow Servicemen

Last Operation Information

Start Date 13-04-1941
End Date 13-04-1941
Takeoff Station Kinloss
Day/Night Raid Day
Operation Training- night navigation exercise
Reason for Loss Airborne 10:18 on a round-robin cross-country training flight to Inverness - Oban - Stornoway - Cape Wrath - Achnashellach Station, and back to RAF Kinloss. At Oban they sent a radio message saying that they had descended to 500 feet in order to remain below the cloud base. Later they radioed their position at Kylerehea. By now they had run into bad weather, and by the time they arrived overhead at Stornoway airfield the visibility was bad and Stornoway airfield had closed its runways due to the depth of snow on them. At 13:02, N9857 sent a message confirming their turning point at Cape Wrath. They indicated that they were attempting to climb over the bad weather. Approximately 10 minutes later, the Wireless Operator at RAF Stornoway picked up a very faint Morse message. "icing up......lost power in port engine......losing height....descending through 3,000 feet ...." and then nothing more after that. The aircraft crash landed on the plateau of the mountain Beinn an Fhurain approximately 3 miles east of Inchnadamph in Sutherland, Scotland at around 2,300 feet. On landing the starboard wing hit a rocky knoll and shattered which sent the aircraft cartwheeling. The fuel in the wing ignited and burnt out most of the wing and part of the forward fuselage. The fate of N9857 and her crew was not discovered until 25th May 1941 when Mr Law, a local shepherd, came across the wreckage of the aircraft while he was out on Beinn an Fhurain. The bodies of five of the airmen were found inside the remains of the fuselage, wrapped in their parachutes. Evidently at least three of them had survived the crash landing but had died of exposure. The body of Mitchell was discovered some half a mile away sheltering under a large boulder. It is believed that he had set out to get help but he too had succumbed to the cold. Due to the remoteness of the crash site, the crew were buried nearby and a cairn erected. In June 1985, cadets from 2489 (Bridge of Don) Squadron Air Training Corps refurbished the cairn. Their graves are the highest in the UK. Loss Location: Meall nan Caorach
 
 
 
 

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Casualty Pack

IBCC is delighted to introduce a unique facility to link the Losses Database to the relevant RAF Casualty Pack on the National Archives website. This project is the result of on-going collaboration between IBCC, the MOD Records Office and National Archives, Kew. This document describes what Casualty Packs are, when they were created, the process of making them available to the public and then goes on to describe the process by which you can view the contents of the packs. Casualty Packs (CPs) were created by the RAF whenever there was serious injury or loss of life associated with operational activity within the RAF. This includes operational flying losses, enemy action due to air raids, road accidents either on station or even off-station if they involved RAF vehicles. Deaths due to natural causes in service or accidents that did not involve RAF vehicles did not generally give rise to a CP.

CPs were originally given a unique reference number by the RAF. Each begins with the letter ‘P’ and is followed by six digits, then an oblique (forward slash) and the finally the year in which the incident took place- for example P396154/42.

The CPs are in the process of being made available to the general public as they are passed from the MOD Records Office, Portsmouth to National Archives, Kew. This process requires some rework to the files which is very time consuming, so the process of making them all available to National Archives will take several years. They are being made available in increasing date order.

Once CPs arrive at National Archives they are assigned a unique AIR81 number, so each CP has both a P-number and an AIR81 number. Both are searchable on the National Archives website under ‘Search the catalogue’ and both are included on the IBCC website.

The AIR81 reference on the IBCC website is a link to the file on the National Archives website. When you click on it, the relevant page will open in a new tab on your browser.

There is currently no plan to digitise AIR81 files, partly because they are fragile and partly because the information they contain can at times be sensitive, even harrowing, since they may contain exhumation reports and even photographs of corpses. Family members wishing to read the AIR81 files relating to their ancestors are advised to exercise caution and be guided by National Archives warnings where appropriate.

There are two means for accessing AIR81 files- to attend in person or to order a copy by post.

To attend in person, the attendee should first create a Reader’s Ticket. This can be done online by following this link: https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/login/yourdetails. Then click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and click Order in Advance. Enter your Reader’s Ticket number and state the date on which you intend to visit. National Archives will have the file ready for you when you arrive, saving you time. When you visit Kew, you must quote the Reader’s Ticket number and take along two forms of ID- one bearing your signature and one bearing your address. When you view the files, you are permitted to take photographs of each page, should you wish.

Alternatively, if you wish to order a copy by post, please be aware that there is a charge for this service based on the number of pages in the file. Click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and then click Request a Copy. There is an £8.40 charge for National Archives staff to access the file and give you a quotation for the copying service. The process takes around 24 days to complete and can be expensive.

IBCC wishes to thank the staff at the MOD Records Office and National Archives for their engagement and assistance in making this facility available to our website users.