2020 Roscroggan Memorial Service with Camborne RBL

Welcome to you all here today to commemorate that sad day of 24 July 1942. This was the day that Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber designation AW288 crashed here in Roscroggan unfortunately killing its four man crew. Their stricken aircraft was coming down towards the town but they managed to keep it in the air long enough to avoid any civilian casualties.
The squadron was due to re-equip with Liberators in the autumn of 1942. In preparation for this they were flying their Beauforts to Malta, where they were to be used to attack the convoys carrying supplies to Rommel’s Afrika Korps. The aircraft were flown to No. 1 OADU at RAF Portreath where the crew rested for a week before taking off five minutes prior to the crash.
On the morning of 24 July 1942 AW288 had just taken off from nearby RAF Portreath and was heading for Malta via Gibraltar when it began to experience engine trouble and was forced to head back to base. Unfortunately the problem became too serious for the heavily laden aircraft to maintain its height and after narrowly missing the town it hit a disused chapel on the edge of the hamlet of Roscroggan, which lies between Camborne and Tehidy. All four men died at the scene.
These were:
The pilot, Flight Sergeant John Campbell Atkinson
The observer, Pilot Officer Frank Samuel Day
Wireless operator/Gunner Sergeant Charles Richard Taylor
Wireless operator/Gunner Sergeant John Orford Twelvetrees