Castlebar man killed in World War Two aircraft crash
By Tom Gillespie
A 23-year-old air gunner with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, Castlebar native Sergeant James Patrick Nyland, was one of a crew of seven who died in World War Two when their aircraft crashed while attempting to make an emergency landing in Lincolnshire, England, on September 27, 1943.
The crew took off on a mission from RAF Kirmington in Lincolnshire but returned early and after acknowledging landing instructions, crashed on Caen Hill to the south of Caistor.
The 166 Squadron report stated: “The aircraft took off from Kirmington at 19.43. It returned early and the crew was given permission to land.
“It was heard to reply ‘landing’ and at 23.24 a crash was reported south of Caistor which was confirmed to be this aircraft. All the crew were killed.”
In addition, the summary of events stated that on September 27 weather for take off, en route and over the target was good but conditions deteriorated badly on return with cloud down to 900 feet, accompanied by heavy rain and a strong squally wind.
It also said the aircraft, piloted by Cecil Boone, crashed while attempting to land at Caistor which was a grass field with no hard runways.
The crew was as follows:
W/O Cecil Jack Walton Boone, RAFVR (23), pilot, 166 Squadron, son of Jack and Olive Emily Boone, of Bury St. Edmunds; husband of Olive Boone, of Moreton Hall, Bury St. Edmunds.
He was buried in at St. Edmunds Cemetery, Suffolk.
An old boy of Culford School he was a sorting clerk and telegraphist at Bury St. Edmunds Post Office before joining the RAF in 1940. He married Olive Booth who also worked for the post office.
Sgt. Douglas Lowain Bick, RAF (23), flight engineer, 166 Squadron, son of Harold George and Mabel Bick, of Bolton. He is buried in Heaton Cemetery, Lancashire.
Sgt. Ernest A Pack, RAFVR, navigator, 166 Squadron. He is buried at Hornchurch Cemetery, London, Borough of Havering.
Sgt. Thomas Warhurst, RAFVR, (27), air bomber, 166 Squadron, son of Thomas and Mary Warhurst and husband of Jane Warhurst of Sheffield.
He is buried in Sheffield City Road Cemetery, South Yorkshire.
Sgt. Ronald Davis, RAFVR (21), wireless operator/air gunner, son of Henry James Davis and Frances Marie Davis, of Islington, London; husband of Beatrice Maud Davis, of Islington.
He is buried in Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire.
Sgt. James Patrick Nyland, RAFVR (23), air gunner, 166 Squadron, son of James and Ellen Nyland, of Castlebar.
He is buried in the Old Castlebar Cemetery.
Sgt. George Russell Smith, RCAF (29), wireless operator/air gunner, 166 Squadron, son of William McGuffie-Smith and Agnes Martin Smith, of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
He is buried in Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire.
The squadron had converted to Lancasters on September 21, and Boone's crew had flown one other operation with the squadron.
Michael Feeney, MBE, in his book Remembering Mayo’s Fallen Heroes, reprinted a report from The Connaught Telegraph of June 1916 about a former Castlebar jeweller who enlisted in the Connaught Rangers and made his last will while on board the Mauritania while on his way to the Dardanelles in Turkey.
The report read: In the King’s Bench Division, Dublin (Probate Side), on Monday, before Mr. Justice Madden, in thyme goods of the late Sergeant John McHolme, an application for probate of a will was made.
The deceased was formerly a jeweller in Castlebar. He enlisted in the 5th Battalion Connaught Rangers, and was killed at Gallipoli in August 1915.
Mr. Fitzgerald-Kenney, instructed by Mr. A. V.G. Thornton, solicitor, who made the application on behalf of the executor, Rev. F.A. Hanna, Methodist Minister, Castlebar, stated the will was made on board the Mauritania while the testator was on the way to the Dardanelles.
It was drawn up by Corporal Patrick Tansey, a young man from Ellison Street, Castlebar, who had been a solicitor’s clerk, and who had also joined the army.
The will, which was dated July 17, 1915, was given to Robert Clarke, a waiter on board the ship, who posted it home in August 1915.
It was addressed to the executor but did not reach him. The assets consisted of a jewellery business, said counsel, and were worth about £200. The court granted the application.
Another report from The Connaught Telegraph of August 17, 1915, recalled the death of a Islandeady man also at Gallipoli.
It read: A High Mass de Requiem was celebrated at the parish church, Islandeady, for the eternal repose of the soul of Private Thomas Tunney who died at the battle of Gallipoli.
The celebrant was Rev. William Lavelle, C.C., assisted by Rev. Mc Canon McDonald and Rev. Michael Hughes, Adm. The master of ceremonies was Rev. P. Brett, C.C., Newport.
Fr. Hughes asked for the prayers from the large congregation for a fine young man who sacrificed his life in defence of justice and freedom.
He said he was one of a gallant band of Irishmen who responded to the call of duty.
He reminded them that it was the valour and heroic virtue of young men like Tommy Tunney that secured Ireland against a war that was the epitome of all horrors, adding: “Realising therefore the deep debt of gratitude who owe those heroic souls, who died to preserve our lives and liberties, it is our bounded duty to send up our constant and earnest petition, the throne of mercy, and to beg almighty God to grant them eternal rest.”