DescriptionThere is a large patch of bare earth measuring 7m x 8m on the west facing slope believed to be where any unsalvaged remains were gathered together and burnt. Small scraps of twisted and fused metal remain on the ground, along with rivets and other small fixings. A memorial has been was erected.
The remains of this aircraft are designated as a Protected Place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. The Act makes it an offence to interfere with the wreckage of any crashed, sunken or stranded military aircraft without a licence. For further information on this Act and its administration with regard to aircraft, please contact the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre, RAF Innsworth, Gloucester, GL3 1RZ.
Event and Historical Information:
This Liberator was assigned to 547 Squadron, RAF. The crew were undertaking anti-submarine duties flying from St Eval. They were deployed to rendesvous with a RN submarine to practice radar and Leigh Light skills. Instead of skirting Wales and using the Smalls lighthouse as the navigational fix, the crew cut across the tip of southwest Wales to make sure that they made the rendezvous. The aircraft flew into Carn Bica, Preseli Hills, at night on 19 September 1944 and burst into flames. The crew comprised W/O Stan Kearney, pilot; Flt Sgt Alec Campbell, 2nd pilot; F Sgt John D Boyd, RCAF, navigator; F Sgt Robert Evans, wireless operator; Fl Sgt Raymond Sellors, flight engineer; W/O Billy W Soroski, RCAF, wireless operator/ air gunner; W/O Edward Moody, RCAF, wireless/operator air gunner; P/O Richard N Shearly, RCAF, second navigator; and Sgt Albert H Humphries, air gunner. Campbell, Moody and Shearly were the only survivors. The court of inquiry heard that the altimeter had been set wrongly and was reading too high. In 1984 (50th anniversary), a memorial was placed at the crash site by the Pembrokeshire Aviation Group.
Sources include:
Doylerush, E, 2008, Rocks in the Cloud: High Ground Aircraft Crash of South Wales, pg90-4, 107 and 111
Dyfed Archaeological Trust HER Ref: 105185
Evans, J, 2005 Final Flights, pg25-39
Pyper, A, 2013, Military Aircraft Crash Sites in South West Wales, Dyfed Archaeological Trust Report
Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, January 2014.
