Foyle College Students seeking assistance researching Derry plane crash

The plane, a Fairy Barracuda, crashed at Enagh Lough shortly after takeoff, killing the three crew members. Because of the difficult terrain around the crash site, the wreckage nor the crew were recovered until 1971. This aircraft is now thought to be the only surviving Barracuda in the world.

The ‘Journal’ wrote about the recovery of the plane in 1971 and the following story was published in 2012:

A joint British Army-Navy team was trying to complete the salvage of a wartime plane which crashed with three men on board in a marshy part of Enagh Lough

in 1944. The plane, a Barracuda, a type of aircraft which carried torpedoes, was on a routine flight from the British Fleet Air Arm Station at Maydown on August 29, 1944,

when it nose-dived into about 15 foot of water in a bog area known as ‘The Moss’.

Despite attempts at the time, the bodies of the crew members were never recovered. As the new recovery operation continued, the cockpit and part of one wing were visible and two navy frogmen were diving constantly in an attempt to try to free more of the plane. Before active work had started in an effort to drag up the wreckage, the authorities were trying to locate relatives of the dead men.

Lt. Commander Michael Apps, Fleet Air Arm historian and naval liaison officer at the camp which was set up on the side of ‘The Moss’ a fortnight ago, said that, when the bodies were recovered,they would be taken to the mortuary at Altnagelvin Hospital. The aim of the salvage work was, he said, to cause the minimum of interference to the relatives and next of kin of the dead men and to cause them no grief. He said the relatives would be given the option of taking the dead crew members to their home area for burial or having them interred in the Services section of Derry Cemetery.

To aviation historians, the wreckage is significant because the Barracuda was scrapped in 1953 and this is now believed to be the only one of its kind in the world.

Among those who watched the salvage operation were two men who saw the plane go down so many years ago. Lawrence McGlinchey, who lives at Campsie, was aged 17 at the time and was taking a walk on the afternoon of the crash. He was near Enagh Lough Primary School when he saw the plane in the sky. ‘It seemed to lose height,” he said. “Then it opened up the engines and the plane just crashed towards the ground.”

Another eyewitness was William McLaughlin, of Stradowen Drive, Strathfoyle, who was aged 25 at the time, and was working at a nearby farm.

“I saw three Barracudas rising from Maydown. One of them seemed to stall for a minute or two in the air. Then the engines revved up but it just tipped over and dived.”

Another person at the water’s edge was John MacDaid, principal of Enagh Lough PS, who said that, about 15 years ago,the parents of one of the dead men visited the area and he took them to the spot where the plane was lost. At a follow-up inquest into the deaths of the airmen, verdicts of death by misadventure were recorded.

The dead were named as: Acting Sub-Lieutenant (A) Denis Herbert Oxby, RNVR, the pilot, aged 21, whose home was at Bulwell, Nottingham; Acting Sub-Lieut. Frederick Robertson Dobbie, the observer, aged 21, who lived at Trenant, East Lothian; and Leading Airman, Telegraphist Air Gunner 3, Derek Albert Thomas Mews (19),whose address was in Norbury, London.

The remains of the three airmen were buried in the graveyard of Eglinton Parish Church. The burial service was carried out with full military honours. The White Ensign draped coffins were carried to the graves by naval pall-bearers and the funeral firing party came from the Royal Naval Air Station in Somerset.

This Saturday, April 22, Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and Foyle College have organised for visiting Royal Navy Museum and Fleet Air Arm Museum officials to visit the crash site and give a talk on the fatal events of 1944, and the recovery of the three crew and large parts of the aircraft in 1971.

A short graveside prayer service will be said at 9 30am at St Canice’s Parish Church, Main Street Eglinton with Navy flag party and Foyle Naval cadets. The Museum officials will then visit the crash site at Enagh before a talk in the church by the Museum team at 1pm. This talk is free of charge and open for anyone with interest to attend.

The FAA are working closely with Foyle College Aviation Team to collect pictures and stories from the crash and the recovery in 1972. An open, free talk will be held in St Canice's Parish Church, Eglinton, on Saturday, April 22 at 1pm where people are invited to share any information they have.