LN281

Wellington LN281 of No. 14 Operational Training Unit left RAF Market Harborough at 15:45 on 13 August 1944 for a cross-country navigation exercise and practice bombing detail. The starboard engine gave trouble and the aircraft, too low over Melton Mowbray airfield for the crew to bale out, attempted a single-engine circuit to land; it lost flying speed, stalled and crashed about four miles from the airfield, bursting into flames. Seven of the eight crew were killed; the rear gunner, Sgt George Raby, was seriously injured but survived the war. The Melton Mowbray Wellington Bomber Memorial commemorates the crew.