Today we remember the three airmen killed on this day in 1944 when their Grumman Avenger Mk.I FN821 of No. 848 Naval Air Squadron, Royal Navy, crashed on Trum y Fawnog near Llangynog.
William Seddon Appleby, Sub Lieutenant, RNZNVR, Pilot
Ernest Hartley Green, Sub Lieutenant (A), RNVR, Passenger (Pilot)
Joe Lupton, Sub Lieutenant (A), RNVR, Observer
who were all killed when their Grumman Avenger Mk.I FN821 / 4K of No.848 Naval Air Squadron, Royal Navy, crashed on Trum y Fawnog near Llangynog on the 3rd February 1944.
The aircraft is reported to have been on a transit flight from Gosport to Kirkwall via Machrihanish at the time of its loss. The pilot, Sub Lieutenant Appleby, was assigned to HMS Landrail at Machrihanish while the other two crew were assigned to HMS Robin at Kirkwall.
While over the southern most end of the Berwyn mountains near the village of Llangynog the aircraft dived out of a snow shower into open moorland at Cerrig Trwsgl on the eastern end of the Trum y Fawnog where it exploded killing the three crew members, leaving a large crater on the hilltop and wreckage scattered over a wide area.
Following a recovery operation, the three crew were buried at various locations across the country. The aircraft’s pilot, Sub Lt Appleby, was buried at Oswestry, Sub Lt Green in Cardiff and Sub Lt Lupton at Morley near Leeds.
On 3rd February 2025, this memorial to the airmen was unveiled near the site of the crash.