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Posted by Malcolm Fife
on 6/12/2005, 18:22:56, in reply to "Re: H.M.S.Jackdaw, Crail Airfield."
81.77.77.132
Peter,
I have the following information on your uncle sub-lieutenant Frank Lawley,
He was serving with 770 squadron when he was killed.This squadron provided targets for training other pilots as well as carrying out a number of other second line duties. The unit spent much of the war based at Crail but moved to Dunino airfield a few miles to the north in January,1944 due to overcrowding. Dunino was a total contrast to Crail as it had a grass runway which was far from satisfactory.It was so undulating that pilots could not see one end from the other.It was often prone to flooding. Crail on the other had had three concrete runways.There were a spate of accidents at Dunino during the six months it was resident here.Sub Lt. Lawley perished in one such accident.He was piloting a Miles Martinet,MS 791, which hit a nissen hut on take off and then crashed outside the airfield.{One variation on the report of this accident is that the plane failed to take off at all striking the nissen hut and bursting into flames }.The second member of the crew P.O. D.Lowndes was injured but survived the accident.There was a second non fatal accident at Dunino on the same day involving a Chesapeake which suffered an engine failure. 770 squadron was the subject of a board of enquiry due to its high accident rate. The squadron moved to another larger airfield a short time later.{mid 1944}
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