Beaufighter identity help - solved

[rossm]

22 hours ago, vampiredave said:

 

Fg Off E V Chandler's accident was in T5141:H when he suffered an engine failure and crashed into the sea, 1.5 m north of Boscastle. The Police War Diary states that the accident was on 8 Oct 1942 and the bodies of the two crew members were brought ashore at Sennen, five hours after the accident. If EL338 skidded off the runway and ended up in a hedge then the image couldn't be EL338? Actually I think that I have seen that particular image and it is of T5252:C, flown by Fg Off PC Shaefer. The undercarriage collapsed on take-off on 26 December 1942 and the starboard engine caught fire.

 

 

 

It's not impossible Chandler had a belly landing on 6th October in X8084:Q followed by a fatal crash on 8th October. I agree the photo is not EL338, I don't think I ever said that it was, just that EL338 would be a nice example for me to model given the Roborough connection (I used to work under the flightpath for Plymouth airport).

 

Although the photo does show the starboard engine cowling missing there is no sign of a fire, foam, or the undercarriage having been deployed (although this might not show in a head on view - particularly if legs/doors were wiped off by hitting the runway) so while it is possible it is T5252 as you state I think I'll be going with the majority verdict of the photo caption (and an email exchange) from Aldon Ferguson and the additional info from Chris Goss.