Date:	Sunday 27 April 1941
Time:	23:45
Type:	Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I
Owner/operator:	96 Sqn RAF
Registration:	N3389
MSN:	349
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Normanton Heath, 4 miles south of Wellingore, Lincolnshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Cranage, Middlewich, Cheshire
Destination airport:	RAF Wellingore, Lincolnshire

Narrative:
Boulton Paul Defiant Mk.I N3389/'ZJ-A', 96 Squadron, RAF Cranage, Middlewich, Cheshire: Written off (destroyed) when crashed on night cross-country navigation exercise on 27 April 1941. Aircraft came down on Normanton Heath, 4 miles south of Wellingore, Lincolnshire, and both crew were killed. According to one source (see link #6): "Time: 23.10. While on approach to Wellingore, after completing a cross country training flight, this aircraft was wrecked when it sufferred an engine failure, causing the aircraft to dive into the ground 4 miles south of the airfield"

Crew:
Sergeant (916859) Walter Barrie ANGELL (pilot) RAFVR, aged 24 - killed on active service 27 April 1941, buried at St.Mary's Churchyard Extension, Shenfield, Essex
Sergeant (901859) John Ernest GOLDSMITH (Air Gunner) RAFVR, aged 19 - killed on active service 27 April 1941, buried at All Saints Churchyard, Sudbourne, Suffolk

Note that the file at the National Archives art Kew (File AIR 81/6105 - see link #2) states "Sergeant W B Angell, Sergeant J E Goldsmith: killed; aircraft accident near RAF Digby, Defiant N3389, 96 Squadron, 27 April 1941". Which is odd, as RAF Digby, Scopwick is approximately nine miles to the North East of the crash site. The crash location was nearer to Normanton-on-Cliffe, sometimes known as Normanton, a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the A607 road, about 7 miles (11 km) north of the town of Grantham and 18 miles (29 km) south of the city and county town of Lincoln.

RAF Wellingore is a former Royal Air Force fighter relief landing ground located 1.9 miles (3.1 km) south of Navenby, Lincolnshire and 10 miles (16 km) south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England.

Defiant N3389 was delivered to RAF Cranage, Middlewich, Cheshire on 15 January 1941, and was possibly the first Defiant to be delivered to 96 Squadron

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1977 p 20)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/6105: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16755403
3. 96 Squadron ORB for April 1941: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/764/12: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8384686
4. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2427187/walter-barrie-angell/
5. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2721235/john-ernest-goldsmith/
6. https://www.bcar.org.uk/new1941-incident-logs#apr
7. https://www.middlewich-heritage.org.uk/RAF_Cranage/raf-cranage-1941.html
8. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=N3389
9. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/military/Crashes_in_Lincolnshire.pdf
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._96_Squadron_RAF#World_War_II
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Wellingore
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normanton-on-Cliffe

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
15-Jan-2011 11:13	ThW	Added
06-Sep-2011 16:36	angels one five	Updated [Time, Location, Nature, Narrative]
06-Sep-2011 17:27	angels one five	Updated [Cn]
12-Jan-2012 13:07	Nepa	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Departure airport, Narrative]
12-Oct-2013 16:20	JINX	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Narrative]
01-Nov-2013 20:23	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
01-Nov-2013 20:29	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Narrative]
24-Aug-2014 14:55	Jixon	Updated [Cn, Departure airport, Narrative]
17-Aug-2020 09:39	soucek56	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative, Operator]