Diary of WW2 Darlington airman sheds light on mystery fatal crash

Last year, the 1943 diary of Flight-Sergeant Ron Chapman was launched as a 12-part podcast, with excerpts read from it by the grandchildren he never met.

READ FIRST: WW2 AIRMAN'S DIARY TO BE TURNED INTO PODCAST

The podcast, called Blighty Thank God, was put together by his son, Neil, who lives in Stockton, and through the wonders of internet research, it came to the attention of historian, author and broadcaster Jessie Childs, whose books usually focus on the turmoils of 16th and 17th Century England.

Diplomat Stephen Childs, who was killed in mystery air crash in the Middle East in 1943Her father, Stephen Childs, had been part of a high-level military mission flying from Iran to Iraq in January 1943 when his plane encountered severe weather and crashed into mountains, killing all on board, including a British spy.

Jessie ChildsJessie explained: “My grandmother, Lara, always suspected that there was foul play involved in the crash. I was more sceptical, knowing how common accidental crashes were during the war, especially in terrible weather.”

But Flt-Sgt Chapman’s diary tells more.

Ron was born in Darlington in 1920, grew up in Field Street, off North Road, and went to the grammar school until his mid-teens when his father, a pattern-maker, was forced to move south in search of work.

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Diaries were frowned upon by the RAF authorities, but Ron, then 23, kept a detailed account of his day-to-day movements in 1943.

Flt Sgt Ron Chapman in April 1943 inside the gun turret of the Bisley aircraft he and a team of RAF men tried to salvage after it crashed on a remote island in the Persian GulfThe diary remained secret until 30 years after his death, in 1980 at the age of 60, when it reappeared in a pile of family effects. His son, Neil, then spent years researching all the references in the diary – into gold smuggling, secret supply missions and the crash that cost Ron his teeth and nearly his life – to build up a huge picture of an RAF pilot’s life, never far from danger, flying Dakota transport planes in west Africa and the Middle East.

Neil then turned the research and the diary into a podcast, and used his father’s words of relief when he touched down back in Britain – “Blighty, thank God” – as its title.

In the diary, Ron mentions the rumours that circulated among the men of the RAF at the time about the accident that cost diplomat Stephen Childs his life, including that the Shah of Iran had been scheduled to join the doomed flight but cancelled at the last moment.

“I hear that the Shah decided not to travel – if so, he was bloody lucky,” Chapman wrote.

And then cryptically he added: “There is more to this than we know.”

Flt Sgt Ron Chapman relaxing on the River Nile in Egypt where he was based as part of a team of ferry pilots delivering fighter planes to North Africa, 1941- 42Indeed there was. Subsequent research shows that not only was Mr Childs, the British public information officer based in Tehran, on board but so was a secret agent, Group Captain Robert Greenlaw, accompanying several Iranian military intelligence men. Mr Greenlaw had a large quantity of foreign currency on his body and was being pursued by several women, all of which is explained in an extra episode of the podcast that Jessie has recorded with Neil and which has been released in time for this year’s Remembrance Day.

The episode is called Sex, Spies & Lies.

In it, Jessie says how Ron’s few words from 81 years ago shed such light on her father’s death.

She says: “It’s incredible that you also sensed something suspicious about the crash. I had always thought it was a bit of wishful thinking on the part of my family, perhaps trying to turn the tragedy into something bigger. I'm not an expert on this period, or indeed about planes, so hearing your insights has been really enlightening.”

Neil said: “The podcast is a tribute to all those grammar school boys who, like my father, had their lives so interrupted by the war.”

Blighty Thank God is available on Apple and Spotify, and can also be found at the website dedicated to it, blightythankgod.co.uk

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