Mursley Water Tower
Mursley water tower is a local landmark, which was built by the Buckinghamshire Water Board in 1938. It services north and central parts of the county. On 11th. April, 1943, at 00:15hrs a crew of 4 men was sadly killed when a Wellington, BJ879, which was doing training circuits and landings and hit the side of the tower and exploded. The conditions were very foggy and the Wellington tried twice to land, each time making a dangerous and low approach to Little Horwood airfield. On the third attempt it was given permission to land. The pilot made a similar approach but suddenly there was a blinding flash in the sky followed by an explosion. The aircraft had hit the water tower at Mursley and all the crew were killed.
The unfortunate airmen were:-

P/ODEJ Bint- Pilot -Oxford.
SGTFB Mchugh -Pilot-Dudley.
SG

T JLLBelanger-RCAF- A/G-Canda.
SGT C.T Fox - WOP/A/G -Lincoln.

The crash blackened the exterior of the tower and distorted some of the large pipes. Repairs were swiftly made and the tower was back working within a week. Yet not until a renovation of the tower in 1968 were the wartime scars removed. In 1995 Anglian Water, which owns the tower, decided to open it to the public for half a day and they also set about providing a memorial plaque. 2 families and 10 relatives of the aircrew were contacted and 1,000 local people attended the memorial service, during which a plaque to honour the 4 airmen, who were killed, was uncovered.
MURSLEY WATER TOWER
MURSLEY TOWER PLAQUE
At the dedication ceremony it was hoped that the R.A.F. Battle of Britain Flight might be able to stage a flypast. Prior engagements prevented this but click below for a personal tribute.
Click here to see a movie of the RAF Memorial Flight (file size 1Mb)
PLAQUE PRESENTATION CEREMONY
Wellington Engine.

This is an engine from a crashed Wellington bomber. Two Wellington bombers collided in mid-air on April 6th., 1945, killing all 11 crew members. Having buried itself underground, one of the engines was dug up after being located in the middle of a field on a farm, using a metal detector. It look 2 days to unearth. According to the official reports the Wellington, of the Operational Training Unit at Little Horwood, was on a high-level bombing run descending through thick cloud. It collided with the other Wellington and the 2 planes burst into flames.
WELLINGTON ENGINE
Back to top