Quote:
Originally Posted by Vitesse
Although Pat Fairfield was born in Liverpool, he
Wilson had raced in South Africa before coming to Europe, his first race north of the Equator being in Cork in 1938. Another ERA privateer, who had bought Fairfield's old car, he raced in Europe in both 1938 and 1939, although his results don't really reflect his talent. During WW2 he served in the RAF (not the SAAF as some sources state) and was killed when an early prototype Lancaster crashed on Salisbury Plain in 1942. For reasons I haven't yet discovered, he was buried in Edinburgh, even though he was based at Boscombe Down.
For copyright reasons I can't hotlink the picture of Wilson that I mentioned, but you can find it here:
http://www.klemcoll.com/image/203L-38.aspx?page= |
Quote:
Originally Posted by chunterer
Thankyou for the further very interesting contribution Vitesse 
Without wishing to stray too far off topic, the Lancaster tragedy must be a fairly big piece of RAF history in itself? |
At the risk of straying further off topic into aviation history, this seems to be our man:
http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_...sualty=2451987
As Vitesse said, at first sight it's curious that a South African killed in a crash on Salisbury Plain should be buried in Edinburgh, but a quick check for the rest of the crew (I found an account of the incident on an aviation forum) on the CWGC website suggests that none of the others were buried locally to Boscombe Down either, but presumably were returned 'home' to their local areas:
W/Cdr P.S. Salter AFC, commemorated at Southampton Crematorium
S/Ldr J.D. Harris DFC, buried in Cheam
F/Lt (Observer) P.F. Wakelin, buried at Brookwood Military Cemetary
Sgt (Pilot) R.L. Bilton, buried in Newcastle
Aircraftman (1st class) A.N. Tracey, buried in Morden
Lancaster R5539 crashed at Charlton, near Malmesbury on 18 April 1942, while undertaking diving trials with a simulated bombload, from the RAF's Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, at Boscombe Down- cause of crash appears to have been a failure of the tailplane structure
I had a further search around, and there's another reference on a WW2 forum to Wilson's burial in Edinburgh, which says that the gravestone also commemorates his father, who died in 1915, so perhaps a family connection to Edinburgh?
IN
AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE
OF
MY HUSBAND
JAMES ANDERSON WILSON
OF
WILSON & CO LTD
EAST LONDON SOUTH AFRICA
WHO DIED 31ST JULY 1915
AGED 49 YEARS
ALSO IN MEMORY OF
OUR BELOVED SON
NORMAN GLADSWOOD,
FLIGHT LT., R.A.F., V.R.,
KILLED IN ENGLAND
18TH APRIL 1942.
HIS DUTY NOBLY DONE
FATHER IN THY TENDER KEEPING
LEAVE WE NOW OUR DEAR ONE SLEEPING
(from a post on the WW2 Talk forum. The same thread mentions Wilson's racing career, and links to a thread about drivers killed in air crashes on the Autosport Nostalgia forum)