Stoke Holy Cross Z.7304 Memorial

Date: 18th July 1942 (Saturday)

Unit: No. 18 Squadron

Base: RAF Wattisham, Suffolk

Location: Stoke Holy Cross, Norfolk

Pilot: P/O. Philip Henry Lowther 104490 RAFVR Age 20. Killed

Observer: Sgt. Kenneth Custance Ellis 1259306 RAFVR Age 32. Killed

W/Op/Air/ Gnr: Sgt. George Bernard Crawford 1178840 RAFVR Age 21. Killed

Passenger: Mr. Kenneth T. Tagg Civilian Meteorologist Age 18. Killed

During an air test and flying in poor visibility the Blenheim IV crashed into a radar pylon at Stoke Holy Cross (Poringland, Norwich) at 15.00 hrs.

Mr Kenneth T. Tagg a Civilian Meteorologist accompanied the flight for some air experience. He is buried in Norwich, but very sadly he does not have a headstone, neither is he listed by the CWGC as a civilian casualty?

(1) Blenheim IV Z7283 Flown by Sgt. John Kenneth Jones and his observer Sgt. Herbert Dawson were killed when one of the engines began to misfire and Sgt. Jones ordered the crew to bail out but as the aircraft was now below 1000 ft. Sgt. Dawson decided to remain in the aircraft and risk a forced landing - Sgt. Crawford complied however and he survived jumping when the aircraft was only at 750 ft. landing in a tree with nothing more than a sprained left ankle and of course, suffering from shock.

The aircraft eventually crashed at 00.15 hrs at Hough-on-the-Hill into a cottage killing the two crew members and also 72 year old Mr John Ayto and his 70 year old wife, Annie Sophia Ayto who lived in the cottage.

P/O. Philip Henry Lowther. Bideford Public Cemetery. Sec B. Grave 159. Son of John Henry and Mary Louisa Lowther, of Bideford, England.

Grave shown right (courtesy Glenn Christodoulou )

Sgt. Kenneth Custance Ellis. Comberton (St. Mary) Churchyard. Son of Bernard William and Florence Hilda Ellis, of Comberton, husband of Doris Irene Ellis, of Cambridge, England.

Sgt. George Bernard Crawford. Brookwood Military Cemetery 24.B.10. Known to be from Redruth, Cornwall - worked in a department store in Plymouth. Next of Kin details currently not available - are you able to assist completion of these and any other information?

Mr. Kenneth T. Tagg. ( pictured left ) Buried at the Earlham Road Cemetery, Norwich. Born on the 24th March 1924 in Lewisham. Son to Mrs. (née Tilfts) Tagg. In the 1939 Register he was at school in Uckfield, Sussex.

Researched with the assistance of Derek Bales for the relatives of the crew. Acknowledgments, to the following: Derek Bales, Glenn Christodoulou for grave photo, sent in to us in September 2017. Thanks to John Jones for the Next of Kin details for Mr. Tagg. Bill Chorley - "Bomber Command Losses".

RS 07.06.2019 - Update to NoK details for Mr. Tagg

KTY - 11.09.2017 - Map and grave photo added

RS 07.06.2019 - Update to NoK details for Mr. Tagg

Local remembrance and memorial support

Local authority responsible for memorial upkeep

Accident database entry for Bristol Blenheim Mk IV Z7304, recording the crash on 18 July 1942 at Stoke Holy Cross, Norfolk, during an air test flight.

Aircraft struck a radar pylon in low cloud. The air test should have been conducted near Wattisham but the pilot elected to fly to the coast.

Local archive page documenting the history of RAF Stoke Holy Cross radar station, including the 1942 Blenheim crash into the radar pylon. A memorial plaque was placed on the old pylon base on 18 July 1992, the 50th anniversary.

Memorial plaque unveiled on 50th anniversary in 1992. The radar station at Stoke Holy Cross was an important Chain Home installation during the Battle of Britain.