Site of RAF bomber crash, Cenarth
Argoed Meadow Camping and Caravan Park is the site of a Second World War flying accident which killed four airmen. See below for their details.
The Vickers Wellington bomber took off from RAF Peplow in Shropshire on 23 August 1944 for night training but was diverted to the airfield at Aberporth after the engines stopped working. At 11.50pm the pilot attempted to land on the flat expanse of Argoed meadow, but the plane continued across the meadow and into the river Teifi, crashing into the opposite bank.
One of the airmen who died was a Norwegian. During the war, thousands of Norwegians escaped German occupation of their homeland and found their way to Britain. Many trained to become pilots and aircrew and flew alongside the Allies in the Royal Air Force under the badge of the Royal Norwegian Air Force.
Two of the six crew members survived the crash: radio operator Sgt John (Johnnie) Robertshaw and rear gunner Sgt Howard Hawkins. Both attended a memorial ceremony in Cenarth in 1994, 50 years after the accident. The airmen who died are commemorated by a plaque at the village’s war memorial.
With thanks to Adrian Hughes
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The airmen who died
- Hartstein, Emmanuel, Pilot Officer Pilot 184006. Aged 26. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Buried at Willesden Jewish Cemetery, London. Son of Abraham Hartstein and Anna Hartstein, of Willesden. His brother Philip also died in the war and was also an RAFVR Pilot Officer.
- Lindahl, Rolf, Sergeant Navigator. Royal Norwegian Air Force.
- McKenna, Thomas, Sergeant Air Gunner 1348689. Aged 22. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Buried at Sandymount Cemetery, Glasgow. Son of Joseph and Flora McKenna, of Glasgow.
- Simons, Frederick Edward, Sergeant Air Bomber 1435840. Aged 21. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Erdington (St Barnabas) Churchyard, Birmingham. Son of Joseph Edward and Annie Simons, of Erdington.