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MF-509
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
MF-509 was a Vickers Wellington bomber which crashed into the southwest slope of Carreg Goch, in the mountains of Brecon Beacons, Wales, on November 20th, 1944, while on a night training mission. The accident, although attributed to crew error in the RAF accident report, was likely caused by icing of the carburetor which led to problems with the starboard engine. The entire Canadian crew was killed: Pilot Sgt Charles Hamel, Navigator Sgt Jules Robert Rene Villeneuve, Bomb Aimer F/Off William Joseph Allison, W/Op/Air Gunner Sgt Joseph Paul Ernest Burke, Air Gunner Sgt Arthur Grouix, and Air Gunner Sgt Gerard Dusablon. They were interred with full military honours in Blacon Cemetery, Chester, England.
The crew was on their second-to-last training flight before moving on the RCAF Alouette squadron from No. 22 Operational Training Unit. After the crash, a memorial plaque was affixed to the nose wheel strut of the bomber. This was later removed by treasure hunters and a more permanent memorial was built of stone on the site. During the 1990s efforts were made to remove the plane wreckage from the mountain, but these attempts were thwarted by public outcry.
The Canadian families of the lost crew were never aware of the crash circumstances, location or of the existence of the memorial on Carreg Goch. All concerned were certain the plane had been lost in England until a photo of an airman retrieved from the site in November 1944 was circulated on the Web in 2005 in an effort to identify the individual. As a result of this search, and a resulting cooperative effort between the people in the Swansea Valley and McGill University (Montreal, Canada) the Canadian families became aware of the memorial and the plane's specific fate for the first time.
In May 2006, a climb to the site was undertaken to mark the connection of the memorial to the Canadian families. In November 2006 McGill University mounted a display in downtown Montreal to tell the story of MF-509. Since the creation of the memorial, services have taken place there and hikers have left flowers, notes and other mementoes. The site lies with the Brecon Beacons National Park near Ynyswen, Wales at an altitude of 520 meters at reference SN 817168.