On 21 Aug 1942 two aircraft, a Vickers Wellington bomber (on a crew night training exercise from #15 Operational Training Unit based at RAF Harwell) and an Airspeed Oxford trainer (on a pilot training flight from #6 Advanced Flying Unit based at RAF Little Rissington), collided in mid-air near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire. Both aircraft were destroyed in the accident; and the two airmen on the Oxford and the six airmen on the Wellington all perished.
The crew aboard the Oxford Airspeed Mark 11 serial No T1339 that night were:
RAFVR Sergeant Stanley Edmund DOWNS and
RAAF Sergeant John MacDonald RANKIN.
The crew aboard Wellington T2557 were:
RAFVR Sergeant Noel Francis BOXWELL,
RAFVR Sergeant Frank GILLARD,
RAFVR Sergeant Malcolm Stevenson HAYNES,
RAFVR Pilot Officer Alan MacDonald HENDERSON,
RAFVR Sergeant Patrick O’BRIEN and
RAFVR Pilot Officer Albert Wyndham STILWELL.
Military Service-
Rank: Pilot Officer
Trade: Pilot
Service No: 115530
Date of Death: 21/08/1942
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Division: #15 Operational Training Unit [RAF Harwell]
Son of A. A. Stilwell and Florence Stilwell of Roath Park, Cardiff, Wales; husband of Elsie Stilwell of Roath Park.

On 21 Aug 1942 two aircraft, a Vickers Wellington bomber (on a crew night training exercise from #15 Operational Training Unit based at RAF Harwell) and an Airspeed Oxford trainer (on a pilot training flight from #6 Advanced Flying Unit based at RAF Little Rissington), collided in mid-air near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire. Both aircraft were destroyed in the accident; and the two airmen on the Oxford and the six airmen on the Wellington all perished.
The crew aboard the Oxford Airspeed Mark 11 serial No T1339 that night were:
RAFVR Sergeant Stanley Edmund DOWNS and
RAAF Sergeant John MacDonald RANKIN.
The crew aboard Wellington T2557 were:
RAFVR Sergeant Noel Francis BOXWELL,
RAFVR Sergeant Frank GILLARD,
RAFVR Sergeant Malcolm Stevenson HAYNES,
RAFVR Pilot Officer Alan MacDonald HENDERSON,
RAFVR Sergeant Patrick O’BRIEN and
RAFVR Pilot Officer Albert Wyndham STILWELL.
Military Service-
Rank: Pilot Officer
Trade: Pilot
Service No: 115530
Date of Death: 21/08/1942
Age: 21
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Division: #15 Operational Training Unit [RAF Harwell]
Son of A. A. Stilwell and Florence Stilwell of Roath Park, Cardiff, Wales; husband of Elsie Stilwell of Roath Park.