Remembrance Day at Hameldown Tor

We walked twelve miles today from Hound Tor.

At 11.00am we were at Hameldown Tor for the two minute silence. The memorial commemorates the loss of Hampden X3054 of 49 Squadron which crashed into the hillside on the night of 21st/ 22nd March 1941. The memorial was commissioned by Lady Marjorie Cecilia Wilson, the mother of the pilot (Robert Wilson).


The inscription reads

ON 22ND MARCH 1941
A ROYAL AIRFORCE BOMBER
49 SQDN SCAMPTON
CRASHED RETURNING FROM
OPERATIONS OVER FRANCE
THE 4 CREW WERE LOST

THIS MEMORIAL BEARS
THEIR INITIALS AND SQUADRON
NUMBER - COMMEMORATING
THEIR SELFLESS COURAGE
AND THAT OF FELLOW AIRMEN
WHO PERISHED ON DARTMOOR
1939 - 1945
THEIR SACRIFICE HELPED US
TO MAINTAIN FREEDOM

THE AIRCREW ASSOCIATION 1991


The memorial was extensively restored in 1991 by the Torbay & District Aircrew Association. The crash site memorial stone stands 2¾ miles north of Widecombe-in-the-Moor, on Hamel Down. On 21 March 1941 six of the Squadron's Hampden bombers had lifted from RAF Scampton and set course for the German naval base at Lorient, in occupied France. On return, Hampden X3054, experiencing problems with a radio that was unable to receive, struck Hamel Down at about 1400 feet and caught fire. Sgts Brames, Ellis and Lyon appear to have died on impact but Plt Off Wilson, the pilot, survived until the following day, presumably because he would have been strapped in. He and Sgt Ellis, the second pilot, lie next to one another in Exeter's Higher Cemetery; the two air gunners are buried in their home towns. 21st March 1941 had been a night of 10/10 cloud at 2000 feet and it was concluded that Plt Off Wilson had probably intended to break cloud over the sea before crossing the coast, but was further north than he thought and hit high ground instead

The Crew who died

Pilot P/O Robert David Wilson age 25 Buried Exeter Higher Cemetery
Wireless Operator/ Rear Gunner Sergeant Robert Brames age 22 Buried St John the Baptist, Eltham, London
Pilot Sergeant Richard Leonard Ashburton Ellis, age 23, buried Exeter Higher Cemetery
Air Gunner Sgt Charles John Lyon, age 23, buried Prescot Cemetery, Lancashire

Every time we visit or look at a memorial we are remembering those listed. Only the initials of these men are carved on the original stone.
Remember their names and how young they were.
It was a glorious day and a glorious place to be thankful and celebrate life.