Freckleton Air Disaster

On 23 August 1944, a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Consolidated B-24H Liberator crashed during a test flight into the centre of the village of Freckleton, Lancashire, England, killing all three crewmen aboard the aircraft and 58 individuals on the ground, including 38 children aged four to six.

An official inquiry was unable to pinpoint an exact cause for the accident, although a sudden thunderstorm and the resultant reduced visibility immediately prior to the accident had caused the test pilot of the B-24H, First Lieutenant John Bloemendal, to be ordered to abandon the test flight and attempt to return to base. The report was unable to discount structural failure of the aircraft in such extreme weather conditions as a factor for the accident, and recommended that American pilots be warned how to respond to British thunderstorms.

This aviation accident would prove to be the deadliest to occur in Britain during World War II, and remained the second worst aviation accident in the world (in terms of number of fatalities) until the 1950 Llandow air disaster.

Background

The year after the outbreak of World War II, the British Air Ministry announced plans to construct an aircraft factory and airfield close to the Lancashire village of Warton. The site was also intended to serve as a satellite airfield for the RAF Coastal Command station, based in Squires Gate, Blackpool, and for both economic and patriotic reasons, the decision to construct this airfield was welcomed by locals. This location was initially known as the Warton Air Depot, but became known in 1943 as Base Air Depot No. 2 (BAD-2).

The vicinity of the Fylde was spared any destruction during the 1940–41 Blitz air raids upon the United Kingdom. Following America's decision to enter World War II in December 1941, many assembled aircraft were initially transported into the UK via Atlantic shipping routes, at great risk, with significant delay, and with numerous losses. As such, the need for the Allies to identify strategic geographical locations to build and maintain aircraft within Britain to fight the Axis powers across Europe became increasingly apparent and urgent.