X Cheshire Police Officer's WIGGINS and POCOCKDear Steve, (if I may be so bold)Thank you for your enquiry, this particularincident has plagued me for a number of years, inas much as trying also to find the exact locationof where the event took place. When I started tocompile the officer's database in 2002; I cameacross their entry for being awarded the B.E.M.for Gallantry in 1941 and this is all that it saidin their records, and to explain a little as towhy.In essence the Cheshire Constabulary was formed in1857, and you will appreciate that many thousandsof records are held, the vast majority of them bythe County Record Office at Chester. However,these records are slowly being extracted andrecorded in the Museum of Policing database. TheMuseum is still in its infancy stages and althoughwe have over 11000 individual officers names, notall of them have had their full personal detailsrecorded, in particular those officers who servedpost 1920. However firstly this is what is knownabout the officersWarrant Number 573 Sgt. Ernest William POCOCK,Born 29 July 1914, Cheshire. Died October 2002,Birkenhead, Merseyside (this entry will berecorded in Register Number E13C, Entry Number 97of the Registrar's Office covering Birkenhead) hewas aged 88 years on death. Joined CheshireConstabulary 31 August 1930 and retired on pensionon the 31 August 1966. Apart from his B.E.M. hewas awarded his Police Long Service and GoodConduct Medal in 1958. It appears that he wasstationed for most of his service in theDukinfield area. He married Aileen Eithne O'Toole,aged 22, Spinster, Parlour Maid, on the 14 August1940, at St. Margaret's Church, Dunham Massey,Cheshire. At this time she was resident at TheWhite House, Suffolk Road, Altrincham. Ernest wasresident at 103 Victoria Road, Dukinfield,Cheshire.Warrant Number 182 PC Frank Douglas WIGGINS, Born07 July 1907, Cheshire. Died 08 February 1998,South Cheshire (this entry will be recorded inRegister Number D13A, Entry Number 1 at theRegistrar's Office at Crewe, Cheshire.) he wasaged 90 years on death. He joined the CheshireConstabulary on the 26 February 1930 and retiredon pension on the 07 September 1958. Apart fromhis B.E.M. he was awarded his Police Long Serviceand Good Conduct Medal in 1952. He married AliceMiriam Wardle, Aged 27 years, Spinster, on the 11June 1932, at St.John's Church, Crewe, Cheshire.At this time she was resident at 17 WestminsterStreet, Crewe, Frank was resident at 14 OldfieldRoad, Sale, Cheshire. Frank at this time wasstationed in Altrincham Division.As I said before we have no idea where theaeroplane crashed, if you go to the Museum Websiteand look at the history of the CheshireConstabulary which is under the drop down menumarked History, "To the Best of Our Skill andKnowledge" Chapter 15 mentions the event but againnot the location. I have also attached a copy ofwhat was stated in the General Orders of the day,but again no location was given. Both officerswere incidentally stationed within the DukinfieldDivision as was, but they were on mobile patrol sothe event could have been anywhere within theirunknown patrol area. I have also attached theLondon Gazette entry for their award.The Museum would dearly love to be able to shedmore light on this event and ask you to share whatyou have found out as to the aircraft details andthe names of the crew, naturally anything else weget, as I have asked another member of thecommittee Gerry Mort to research the event, wewill share with you.With best wishesJim Talbot(Trustee and Researcher for the Museum of Policingin Cheshire)JimThanks for trying but I suspect I know more aboutthe incident than you! The paragraph from GeneralOrders is basically what was in the CreweChronicle after the award was announced (theyobviously have a long record in publishing pressreleases verbatim!), Crewe library have that onmicro-fiche but I'm told that the Chronicle's ownarchive was destroyed in a fire year's ago. I'vealready got the page from the London Gazette.Via a contact who was already investigatinganother crash I have some mission details from theRAF. The aircraft was a Wellington 1C reg. no.R1298 of 18th Operational Training Unit, RAFBramcote near Nuneaton. It was on a cross countrynavigation exercise. Officially it ran intobarrage balloon cables whilst off course in poorweather and crashed at 1250. Their records sayDairy Farm, Minshull Vernon (but see below). Thecrew were:Flying Officer D WarburtonSgt VC HillSgt BT AbbottSgt WL Gosden (Royal New Zealand Air force) FlyingOfficer A Minkiewiscz (Free Polish Air force) SgtZ Perkowski (FPAF) Sgt L Jachna (FPAF) Sgt JOrynek (FPAF) Sgt SJ Wojciechowski (FPAF) LeadingAircraftman HR Kwiatkowski (FPAF)The bodies of the English crew were returned totheir homes for burial, the rest are buried atOaston Rd cemetary Nuneaton where there is a wargrave section connected to RAF Bramcote. I've gotphotos of the Nuneaton graves but haven'ttravelled to the others which are spread along theM4 corridor.Gosden's details are online athttp://pages.quicksilver.net.nz/l.rwilloughby/WWII/WWII_RNZAF/B-C-1941/Gosden-walter-lionel.htmAfter I wrote a letter that mentioned the crash tothe Chronicle a couple of years ago I got a phonecall from an old lady called Olive Moore who livedin Goulden St, Crewe in 1941. This is at theeastern edge of the Rolls-Royce factory which wasbuilding Merlin aero engines at the time. Sheremembered the day and heard the plane go over -she also heard the local anti aircraft gunsfiring. This would make a lot of sense, about 6weeks earlier a German bomber had dropped out ofthe clouds and bombed Rolls Royce, killing about20 workers. On that day the AA did not firebecause they weren't sure and they were in a lotof trouble for that, so when this aircraftappeared without warning it seems likely theywould have fired first and asked questions later.So the official report of barrage balloon cablesmay be a cover up.Someone else who had seen the letter got in touchand confirmed the farm as Dairy HOUSE Farm whichis between Bradfield Green and Minshull Vernon. Hehad worked in the milking equipment business andknew the 2 brothers who ran the farm up until the90's. They had been about 8 at the time of thecrash and had seen it happen. I visited the farmand spoke to their sister, who was in her 80's andthe only surviving member of the family. She wastoo young at the time but remembered the brotherstalking about it later and reckoned the actualcrash site was not on their land but furthersouth, although they would have been the closestroad access so explains the RAF record. She saysit was close to the railway line. Franks fatherwas a train driver and there is a claim that hedrove past whilst Frank was at the scene - but Ican't prove that! The farm is now beingredeveloped so I suspect the sister has died. I'vewalked around the field she pointed me to butthere's no obvious sign of a crash, possibly ametal detector might unearth something. I even gotan aerial photo off Google but that doesn't showanything conclusive.I'd like to get to the bottom of this soon as weare almost exactly a year of the 70th anniversaryand it would be nice to be able to do somethingfor then. Bradfield Green's war memorial is a 4sided column but only has three plaques on it, ifI can prove the crash was in their parish theempty side would be ideal for a memorial.Now the spooky bits. Frank taught me to drive on1976 but I knew nothing of this incident until acouple of years ago. In the 1980's I was a SpecialConstable in Crewe and one evening around 1982 Iwas observer in a traffic car when we got a callto an RTA on the Middlewich Road. Frank and Ernesthad basically been a traffic car crew on theMiddlewich Rd when they saw the crash. The car inthe RTA had cartwheeled over the hedge and landedat Dairy House Farm and our witnesses were the twobrothers who ran it - the same two who witnessedthe plane crash! Frank's dad was a train driver,Olive Moore's husband was a train driver - and I'ma train driver!!Keep in touch!Steve----- Original Message -----From: curatorSent: Friday, January 15, 2010 5:11 PMSubject: re: Museum Search RequestDear Steve please see 3 attachments. Jim.Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 6:24 PMSubject: Museum Search Request*******************************************************************************MessageFrom: Steve BrattCopyRecord: YesCopyPhoto: YesRelative: NoDetails:I'm trying to find details of an incidentinvolving a family friend FRANKWIGGINS.On 4th February 1941 Frank was a PC on motorpatrol duties out of Crewe i/cwith PC Ernest Pocock. They attended the scene ofa crashed aircraft northof Crewe and both were awarded the BEM forattempting to rescue the crew,all of whom were actually dead. Frank died severalyears ago and it was onlya couple of years ago that I found out about thisincident. His only knownrelative is a nephew who can only confirm thesefacts but has no moreinformation. I have since established the aircraftdetails, it's mission andthe names and places of burial of the crew buteven the RAF have no recordof exactly where it crashed. I'd be interested inany reports or photos thatcan help show where the incident actually tookplace, with a view tocreating a memorial to the crew and to Frank andhis colleague. Frankeventually became a driving instructor at the FTCin Crewe.25/05/2010 from Steve BrattI've been in touch with a guy who does wartimeaircrash investigation as a hobby and he's gettinginterested in the Crewe area. He's been to theNational Archives and dug out the unit records forthe barrage balloon squad and come up with somedetail about the crash where Frank and Ernesttried to save the crew. He's compiled the attachedfile from text taken from the micro film. Not onlydoes it give good detail about the event but showsthat afterwards somone was trying to find out justhow big a problem these "fly throughs" at Crewewere (answer:very big!) and also shows that theproblem continued with at least 4 more RAF planesbrought down. Throughout the war there was onlyone recorded instance of a Luftwaffe plane hittingthe wires and it carried on!A DPL is an explosive device to detach the cablefrom the balloon and deploy a parachute at the topend of the cable, the idea being that once hit thecable would drift down on the parachute or snagonto the plane whilst the ballon would deflate andcome down locally rather than drift offuncontrolled. It's possibly the bangs Olive Mooreheard and thought were anti aircraft were some ofthe DPLs going off.These records don't mention police action but doconfirm the location as where I'd worked out.Steve BrattFebruary 4th 1941, "1255 Wellington bomber crashedthrough collision with cable onSite D.4"February 4th 1941, "Crewe 4.2.411137. D4 report hearing plane in W'ly directionfollowed by whistling sound andthud, as made by bomb falling.1253 2 Ansons flew through barrage NE-SW at 2000'approx.1255 D Flight report 1 Wellington collided withballoon cable site D4 D.P.L.ssupposed fired. Balloon breakaway. Planetravelling W-E at 15000' approx.1300 D Flight report Wellington appears to havecrashed about 5 miles NNE site 7.1305 Signal to Balloon Command repeat 33 BB Groupand 9 B.C. No.A7211. Friendly2. Crewe3. 1257 4.2.414. 4,500'5. KB5B6. Yes7. 1500'8. Aircraft believed crashed.9. Unknown10. No1310 A Flight report balloon seen drifting SW ofSite 27 at about 8000'. Planeobserved flying N'ly with flying wire attached.1311 F/Lt Legh ascertained from L.M.S. Controlthat plane crashed 1/4 mile fromSignal Box at Coppenhall Junction.1320 Gun Operations advised1330 Sick Quarters advised of accident toaircraft.1340 C Flight report crashed plane burned out andcrew believed killed.1358 B Flight report D.P.L. unit found in BroadStreet, Crewe. D.P.L. not fired andcartridge removed as precautionary measure.1405 F/Lt Legh ascertained plane crashed atBourne's Farm, Minshull Vernon. 10bodies recovered.1418 Details of accident telephoned to S/LdrMaloney, 33 Group Operations.1420 Group Captain 9 B.C. phoned - EngineerOfficer Balloons investigating.1555 Bramcote, R.A.F. Station (S/Ldr Bligh)Action taken re accident:F/Lt Godfrey contacted R.A.F. Shrewsbury resalvage.F/Lt Rowe, (M.O.) reported S/Ldr Scrivener fromRingway at scene of accident andstated that Ringway will look after F.A.S. actionand salvage etc except burial ofbodies.F/Lt Godfrey contacted S/Ldr Bligh at Bramcote toconfirm if plane was fromBramcote. Confirmed, and names of men given:F/O Warburton D. 74344 PilotSgt Hill, V.C. 581454 Air ObserverSgt Gosden, W.L. A39859NZ Air GunnerSgt Abbott, B.T. 903090 W.Op Air GunnerF/O Minkiewicz P1439 Air Observer (Dec)Sgt Perdkowski, Z. 780498 PilotL.A.C. Kiviatkowski 783272 W.Op Air GunnerSgt Jasna, L. 780645 doSgt Orynek 781172 Air GunnerSgt Wojciechowski, F. 781314 PilotR.A.F. Shrewsbury contacted and advised thatRingway were dealing with salvage asS/Ldr Scrivener at scene of accident.F/Lt Godfrey contacted Ringway to confirm that thenecessary F.A.S. action wasbeing made. Confirmed by Adjt.F/Lt Rowe obtained list of names and particularsof crew and passengers in plane.F/Lt Godfrey ascertained from Middlewich Policethat it would be necessary for anofficer from the Unit from which the plane came,to be present at the inquest.F/Lt Godfrey contacted S/Ldr Bligh and gave himabove information, arranged withAdjutant, Bramocte for and officer to travel toCrewe. Bramcote to advise us of timeof arrival Crewe of Officer, 5/2/41, car to meethim at Station. Message from Police at20.00 hrs to say that the Coronor will take noaction.2100 Call put in to Bramcote, but 5 hrs delay.Decided to await their call, asarranged earlier."February 5th 1941, "1055 R.A.F. Bramcote advised949 Sq that S/Ldrs Nicholls andKrokinski arriving Crewe by car 11.30."February 5th 1941, "Flt. Lieut. Page, GroupArmament Officer, visited Squadron reWellington bomber accident. Squadron LeadersNicholls and Kroplinski visitedSquadron re above."February 6th 1941, "Precis of conversation withS/Ldr Bligh, Bramcote R.A.F.:Bodies of Sergt Gowden and all Polish personnelwill be collected tomorrow, Friday7th February, 1941, for funeral at Bramcote.F.O. D. Warburton, Sgt Hill, Sgt Abbot; next ofkin request bodies to be sent to theirhomes.Railway Warrant to be issued as per K.R. & A.C.I.Next of kin to be informed viatheir local police station when trains due toarrive at their home stations.Addresses of Next of KinMrs Warburton, (Mother)Bush Cottage,West Knoyle,Warminster, WiltshireMr J.H. Hill, (Father)104 Wellington Road South,Hounslow, Middlesex.Mr T.F. Abbot, (Father)Brooks StoresArborfield Road,Barkham,Nr Woking, Berks.Police to be informed by priority telephone calltime of due arrival of the above threebodies at their home stations as follows:Warburton : WarminsterHill : Hounslow 1113Abbot : Wokingham 461At the same time the police must be instructed toinform the next of kin of time ofarrival.Disposal Certificate for the bodies to be obtainedfrom the Coroner. One GroupCertificate for all above personnel to be sent toBramcote, and in addition oneCertificate each for Warburton, Hill and Abbot,which are to be put into envelopesand handed to the Guard of the train to be givento next of kin at destination station."February 7th 1941, "S/Ldr Maloney, 33 GroupOperations, requested details of planesflying through barrage during last two months,Details supplied in letter dated 7.2.41reference 9498/S/18/Air as follows:10.12.40 1308 One Avro Anson flew over BarrageArea.4.1.41 1150 Two Spitfires flew over Barrage andone Spitfire flew throughthe Barrage.17.1.41 1708 Three Spitfires flew through theBarrage.28.1.41 1058 One Avro Anson entered Barrage fromNE hit cable on site 26and flew out SW1117 One Airspeed Oxford flew through Barrage fromNW and outto the N.4.2.41 1253 Two Avro Ansons flew through theBarrage from NE to SW atapprox 2000'."4.2.41 1255 One Wellington flew into the Barragefrom W hit cable site 4and crashed.6.2.41 1500 One Westland Lysander flew through theBarrage from W to Nat 1000 / 1500'.1515 One Westland Lysander flew through theBarrage entered fromS and flew off S."February 21st 1941, "1117 A Flight report bombercrashed at L.M.S. Warehouse1119 Medical Officer advised.1121 A Flight advise A 27 cable severed bycollision with aircraft at 1110 hrs Balloonadrift.1125 Signal to Balloon Command repeat 33 BB Groupand 9 B.C. No.A7231. Friendly2. Crewe3. 1110 21/24. 4000'5. KB5B6. No7. 200' approx8. Crashed.9. Bridge Farm, Rope Lane10. No.1126 Armed Guard posted on crashed aircraft.1155 P/O Oliver reports plane as Douglas DB7 NoAX915 from 93 Sq Ferry Pilot,P/O Hyett killed. No passengers.1156 Reported to Gun Operations."March 4th 1941, "1604 aircraft observed flyingthrough the east side of the barrage onan approx S - N course.1605 Aircraft observed to strike bn cable NE ofSHQ1606 A Flight report aircraft, thought to be aHurricane collided with bn cable site 11,and crashed.1607 Squadron Sick Quarters advised.1609 Gun Operations Room advised.1612 Ascertained from A Flight that plane crashedon Crewegate Road approx 400yds NE of site 11. Bn still flying.1615 Signal to Balloon Command, repeat 33 Groupand 9 B.C. No.A9461. Friendly2. Crewe3. 1605 hrs 4/34. 3000'5. KB5B6. Nill7. 1500'8. Crashed.9. 200 yds W of 49/10, sole occupant killed.10. Nil1635 F/Lt Salthouse reports crashed plane is aMiles Master the only markings beingN7782.1637 Gun Operations Room advised.1650 Particulars of crashed aircraft reportedverbally to P/O Lake, 33 GroupOperations.1715 F/Lt Salthouse reports particulars of pilotof crashed aircraft: 1258210 L.A.C.Newnham J No.2 E.F.T.S. A Flight No.5 Squadron,No.58 Course, No.5 S.F.T.S.R.A.F. Ternhill. Plane N7782."March 20th 1943, "1518 'B' Flight reportWellington and another plane flyingthrough barrage.1519 Site 1 reports that a plane had been seen tocrash. Particulars as follows:- At1519 hours approx, a Wellington flew NW at 1000'impacting cable site 16. BothD.P.L.s operated causing plane to dive steeply,crash and burst into flames 1/4 mile Nof Site 16. Balloon ripped and recovered togetherwith armaments. Eight bodiesrecovered, taken to Crewe Mortuary and identifiedas follows:Rouse, J. F/Sgt Coppins 628893Sgt Conway 1218971 Sgt Hills 997003Sgt Watson 402813 Sgt Forbes 401498Sgt Williams 1316166 1 UnidentifiedAircraft was on "camera gun" practice and based atR.A.F. Lichfield.1525 'C' Flight report impact site 14. Particularsas follows:-At 1525 hours, an Airspeed Oxford flew NW at 1000'approx impacting cable Site 14.Bottom D.P.L. fired and aircraft presumed to havelost flying speed and crashed 1/4mile N of site 14. DP/R link set at live, did notfunction and balloon broke away withapprox 4200' cable attached subsequently beingrecovered at Birmingham. Fourbodies were recovered, taken to Crewe Mortuary andidentified as follows:-F/O Wheeler 50363 F/Sgt Clark, H. 1023954L.A.C. Stoneham 1386881 A.C.2 Hughes, F.E. 1394561Aircraft was flying Sealand to its base atCranage.In both cases squeakers were operating at the timeof impact.R.A.F. Cranage responsible for 1921 and 1922action."March 20th 1943, "Message FormAppendix 'B' to Form 540 Entry 1525 Hours20.3.43Secret Copy SignalTo: Headquarters Balloon Command, Repeated 22Group And 10 Balloon Centre viaTeleprinter 10 B.C.From: No.949 Squadron, Crewe.Reference A.S.I. Part 1 Serial No.107 23rd March1941(I) Friendly Oxford(II) -(III) Carnation 49/14(IV) 1525 Hours 20th March, 1943(V) 4500ft(VI) KB5B(VII) Yes(VIII) 1000ft(IX) Crashed and destroyed(X) 500 yds west of site 15 map reference 142781.4 Killed. Bodies at LeightonGrange.(XI) Squeakers operating(XII) -Signature H.D. Morton F/L"March 20th 1943, "Message FormAppendix 'C' to Form 540 Entry 1519 Hours20.3.43Secret Copy SignalTo: Headquarters Balloon Command, Repeated 22Group And 10 Balloon Centre viaTeleprinter 10 B.C.From: No.949 Squadron, Crewe.Reference A.S.I. Part 1 Serial No.107 23rd March1941(I) Friendly Wellington(II) -(III) Carnation 49/16(IV) 1519 Hours 20th March, 1943(V) 4500ft(VI) KB5B(VII) Yes(VIII) 1000ft(IX) Crashed, exact damage unknown(X) Approx 1/4 mile north of site 16 Map Reference149784. Crew of 6 all killed.(XI) Squeakers operating(XII) -Signature H.D. Morton F/L"