Kingston OPC - Did you know?

Kingston (near Corfe Castle)

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DORSET OPC

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Did you know?

THE LOSS OF RAF SWORDFISH Mk 1 K5985 ON MARCH 18, 1938

THE crash of Liberator JT985 in June 1945 was not the only fatal aircraft accident on North Hill above Encombe.

On the afternoon of Friday, March 18, 1938, a student on the torpedo course at the Torpedo Training Unit at RAF Gosport took off at 2.15pm in a Mk1 Swordfish K5985 on a training cross-country flight to Roborough, near Plymouth.

The pilot was Plt Off Frederick Edgar Williams, 21; his two passengers "along for the ride" were Cpl Cyril John Coles, 32, and LAC David Samuel Hurrel, 21. Plt Off Williams had just over 200 hours in his log book, of which 25 were on the Swordfish. He was briefed to return to Gosport if the weather deteriorated, but seems to have encountered low cloud approaching the Purbecks and tried to duck under it.

He appears to have passed low over Orchard Hill Farm at 2.45pm, clipped the top of the trees in Polar Wood - leaving sections of the aircraft in the tree tops - and nose-dived into the steep hillside some 300 yards away. The Bristol Pegasus engine detached and rolled further down the valley.

All three on board were probably killed instantly, despite the brave efforts of a local man, Mr Bob Dorey, who climbed up from Encombe House to the blazing wreckage with two fire extinguishers and attempted to get close enough to pull them from the inferno. Other local folk also tried to get near to the wreckage but were beaten back by the heat. Personnel from the Sick Bay Unit at RAF Warmwell attended the scene and had the difficult task of retrieving the three bodies and carrying them to the top of the ridge before taking them back to base in their ambulance.

The Coroner's inquest recorded a verdict of accidental death.

THE LOSS OF RAF LIBERATOR MK IX RY-3 JT985 ON JUNE 15, 1945

ON the morning of Friday, June 15, 1945, with the war still raging in the Far East, Liberator JT985 of No 232 Squadron took off from RAF Holmsley South in the New Forest, on the first leg of its long flight to Palam, India. The first refuelling stop was scheduled to be at RAF Castel Benito, near Tripoli in North Africa. This Liberator was unarmed and under the command of Flt Lt Saxon Cole RCAF.

Other crew members were Fg Off Donald Twaddle RCAF (co-pilot), Fg Off Joseph Todd RCAF (navigator), Fg Off George McPherson RCAF (radio officer and an American citizen) and Sgt George Wyke RAF (flight engineer). The passenger load consisted not of VIPs, as was the more normal load for such a flight, but of 22 airmen being sent out as urgently needed groundcrew at Palam.

The weather at Holmsley South was considered suitable for take-off, but poor enough for a diversion to be likely if an early return was necessitated. JT985 departed at 0720 hours. At 7.45am, shortly after crossing the coast outbound, the aircraft reported a loss of fuel pressure and the crew were turning back to carry out a precautionary landing at Holmsley South. This information was repeated again 10 minutes later.

At around 8.15am the owner of Encombe House, Sir Ernest Scott, and a worker at Encombe dairy saw the aircraft, which was obviously below the height of the hills, and both knew instinctively that it was going to crash. It impacted on the edge of what is now the Dorset Coastal Path, the wings were ripped off and the engines detached and thrown forward towards Orchard Hill Farm, one wing coming to rest on the footpath (not a public footpath) in Polar Wood leading from the top of the ridge to the farm. There were no survivors.

The first to reach the scene were an RAF sergeant by the name of Reginald Reynolds, who was staying at Encombe House, and members of an Army searchlight battery located between the farm and Kingston village; they were soon joined by RAF personnel from, presumably, nearby RAF Worth Matravers. The National Fire Service from Swanage was soon on the scene along with police officers.

When the low cloud lifted at about 11am a scene of devastation was revealed.

The tragic remains of 27 bodies was joined by much in the way of personal belongings such as a baby's photograph, playing cards, personal notebooks, wallets and the like, together with a distinguished flying cross, thrown from its box but which was also retrieved. Who did the DFC belong to? Not any of the crew or passengers, so maybe it was being taken to India for presentation to its owner. There was also a large amount of tropical uniform items and, to the delight of the local children, tins of boiled sweets.

The bodies of the crash victims were eventually taken away to Poole Mortuary.

This was, and still is, Dorset's worst-ever air crash.

If you have any interesting facts about Kingston that you wish to share, please email them to us at info@kingstonopc.org.uk

This page is for some lesser well known facts about Kingston.

Did you know? ....

... the first steam locomotive into Swanage was hauled by a team of horses up Kingston Hill and down through Langton Matravers into Swanage.

... the bell from the old St. James’ Church at Kingston is now at St. George’s Church, Langton Matravers.

...Kingston Hill has been the scene of a number of fatalities.

One Wednesday night in January 1889, at about eleven o’clock Mr. Frederick Charles Candy, in company with Mr. Dennis Dorey, were returning from Swanage to Kingston, the latter driving a spirited horse in a two-wheeled trap. They pulled up at the Eldon Arms, the home of Mr. Candy, and Mr. Dorey alighted, leaving Mr. Candy in the trap. He had barely tucked the reins through the ring of the pad when the horse moved on, slipping on the frosty ground, and started off at once. Mr. Dorey held on to the bridle for about 100 yards, when the shaft struck him in the mouth and knocked him down and the wheel went over him. The horse at the time was galloping at a furious rate and near the rectory gate Mr. Candy was thrown out against the wall. Dr. Hawkins was summoned from Corfe, but on his arrival deceased had been dead some time.

Click here to read more about the inquest and funeral that followed.

The most recent fatality was in January 2009:

A MOTORIST died after his car crashed into a wall on the B3069 near Corfe Castle, police said.

Emergency services were called to West Street in Kingston at around 6pm yesterday (19 January 2009).

The driver's black Mercedes had left the road and smashed into a wall near the Scott Arms pub.

The 57-year-old man, from the Swanage area, was airlifted to Poole Hospital by the police helicopter but was later pronounced dead.

... there have been two tragic air crashes near Kingston.

... Kingston has just two ‘streets’ - South Street and West Street, and one ‘lane’ simply known as ‘The Lane’.

... on the plans for the New Church, West Street, west of its junction with South Street, was shown as ‘High Road’.

... Kingston once had its own thriving Women’s Institute, as the photo below, taken outside Encombe House in 1952, shows.

Back row: Evelyn Travers, ? Dorey, Florence Denness, Elizabeth (Babs) Henstridge, ? ?, ? Moore, Deb Pond (nee Smith), Jane Senneck (nee Hooper), Cynthia Sansom (nee Jeans), ? Squires, ? ?, Irene Lardner (nee Sansom), Daphne Scott, Lucy Duffett, Joan Streeter (nee Orchard), ? Paine, Win Hooper, Jane Turle, Helena Candy (nee Payne), Phyllis Grey, ? Olphert.

Front row: Kate Collins, Cis Hunt

Can you help name the Women’s Institute members present?

Our thanks to Dave Sansom for providing the photograph, to Martin Henstridge for identifying Elizabeth (Babs) Henstridge, to Eileen Cush for identifying Lucy Duffett, and to Dave Cooper for identifying Jane Senneck (nee Hooper).

The photos has been enlarged and segmented below to aid identification but the images have naturally lost definition.