The Redcar airman who died in Teesside airport's worst disaster

Next Saturday, a proper Armed forces headstone dedicated to Flt-Lt Robert Wilson is to be unveiled at a ceremony in Redcar and the story of his life cut tragically short will be fully commemorated.

It is hoped that his wife’s cousin, 95-year-old Rona, will be present for the unveiling just as she was on September 17, 1949, when the dramatic finale of the annual airshow at RAF Middleton St George went terribly wrong.

The Northern Echo's headline from September 19, 1949. The airshow was called "at home" because the idea was that the British public would vist their local airbase and see the RAF at home

In front of a crowd of 7,000 people, a mock invasion of tanks attacked the airfield control tower while Wellington bombers flew 300ft overhead and dropped 30 dummy paratroopers.

The control tower at RAF Middleton St George which "came under attack" at the 1949 "at home" airshow. These annual "at home" airshows started in 1948 as an RAF PR exercise, and were extremely popular, as the crowds at this early 1960s airshow (below) at RAF MSG show 

But as the dummies drifted downwards, Wellington NC430 plunged into the ground, slithered across the grass and exploded in a fireball.

“Many of the spectators thought that the crash was ‘part of the show’,” reported the Echo. “An eyewitness told The Northern Echo that he thought at first that the plane was an old glider which had been allowed to crash to give a touch of realism to the scene and it was not until ambulances and fire tenders went to the spot that he realised that it was a real crash.

READ MORE: IN OLD PICTURES: THE "AT HOME" AIRSHOWS AT TEESSIDE AIRPORT

“Fire tenders, ambulances and rescue squads were on the scene in a few seconds, but the plane soon burned out and there was no hope for the men trapped inside,” said the Echo.

Flt-Lt Robert Wilson

All six crewmen were killed instantly, including navigator Robert, 25, from Redcar, whose wife, Maureen, was with Rona in the crowd.

“Rona says that the family didn’t realise at first what had happened because there was supposed to be a parachute drop, but then it came as such a shock,” says Dorothy Ahmed, secretary of the Friends of Redcar Cemetery who have championed Robert’s cause.

At the inquest into the deaths, it emerged that the dummy parachutists – stuffed sacks – had been secured in the planes’ bomb bays by light cord. On NC430, when the cord was cut to release the dummies, it had become tangled in the elevators on the tail’s plane. The elevators are the main means of controlling the position of the nose of the plane, and so the aircraft plunged to earth.

A couple of months later, a court martial at Middleton St George heard that the tying of the dummies was “unorthodox with an element of danger”, and Squadron Leader Christopher Read was reprimanded.

This photograph, which was with Flt-Lt Robert Wilson's effects, is believed to show the funeral at Darlington of three of the airmen who died in the 1949 disaster

Three of the six men were buried in Darlington; one was taken to his home in Seaham Harbour, while Robert and Flt-Lt Herbert Barrat “Barrie” Tatham were taken for burial in Redcar.

Barrie’s grave was marked by a family headstone but Robert’s never was.

Flt-Lt Barrie Tatham's grave in Redcar cemetery is one of those tended by the Friends

Maureen did not remarry and after her death, her collection of Robert’s possessions and pictures were auctioned and came into the hands of an RAF enthusiast who began piecing together the story.

READ MORE: FROM RAF AIRFIELD TO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, THE STORY OF "GOOSEPOOL"

He contacted the Friends, chaired by Ged Fleming, for further information. The Friends discovered Robert had been born in 1924, and had lived with his parents and brothers in Richmond Road while attending Coatham Grammar School.

School historian Peter M Chester then took up the story, discovering that Robert had excelled at swimming, diving and rugby, and in July 1938 had taken part in the gruelling Open Water Mile, in which boys jumped into the Tees at Yarm and swam to Aislaby. It had been a cold, wet and windy day, and Robert had finished seventh out of eight, although his teacher wrote in the school magazine: “The order of finishing isn't important. All who finished in this memorable race will be able as old men to suck on their pipes and muse.”

For Robert, that was not possible.

The handwriting on this picture says: "(A name) who took Maureen on her first plane, and she said it would be her last. All the best, Bob". Presumably it is a souvenir that Bob sent Maureen from Egypt

He left school in the summer of 1940 to join the RAF, and spent three years serving in Egypt. He married Maureen, also from Redcar, at the end of the war, and remained in the RAF – on the fateful day in 1949, he, Barrie and the pilot, Flt-Off John Macpherson, were the senior officers on NC480 along with three cadets, Henry Chapman, Donald Hall and Ronald Munday.

Once the Friends had pieced together Robert’s story, they wanted to go further. “We felt that Robert, with his war record, should not lie in an unmarked grave and he deserved a proper RAF memorial, although this has not been easy to achieve,” says Dot.

“First, we needed to find a relative. Through an appeal in our local free newspaper, Coastal View, two of Robert’s wife’s cousins came forward, including Rona, who said we could go ahead.

“We contacted the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, who said they could not help because Robert died in peace time and referred us to the Ministry of Defence.

“The MoD referred us to their historical department who assigned a caseworker to explore the records. It turned out that Robert’s wife had been offered a memorial stone but for some reason it had never happened.

“We have raised nearly £2,000 to fund a Portland Stone headstone in keeping with military tradition. This has had to be made in Wales by a MoD stonemason, but is now in place ahead of the unveiling and blessing on Saturday, July 22 at 10.30am.”

All are welcome to attend, with refreshments afterwards in the bowling club.

ONE of the Friends’ fund-raising efforts has involved the sale of Aces High by John Watson, a book that looks at the First World War history of the fledgling airfield at Redcar. Aces High will be available for £5 after next Saturday’s ceremony, and is also available from the Redcar branch of Darlington Building Society and The Hub on the seafront.

• Please let us know if you are descended from any of the six men involved in the aircrash? The Redcar Friends are particularly keen to contact relatives of Barrie Tatham. Please email chris.lloyd@nne.co.uk

READ MORE: THE HISTORIC WRECKAGE THAT LIES BURIED BENEATH TEESSIDE AIRPORT'S RUNWAYS

The Red Arrows perform at an early 1960s "at home" airshow at RAF Middleton St George