North American P-51K Mustang
BuNo: 44-11632
310th Ferrying Squadron
Pilot: 1/Lt. Leonard D Johnson (killed)
Date: 11th January 1944
Place: Calveley, Cheshire

An experienced combat pilot with 50 missions and over 300 hours on Mustangs, Leonard Johnson was given the task of ferrying a P-51 from Warton to Stanstead. The weather conditions were bad, with 10/10 cloud down to 1,000 feet and continuous snow, but Johnson took off, presumably intending to climb through the cloud. Around 20 minutes after taking off, his aircraft crashed in a field in Cheshire. Johnson’s body was removed by the American salvage team and buried at Madingley, Cambridge, before being repatriated to America.

Being of no use to the USAAF, any wreckage remaining buried in the field was abandoned, and the hole filled in. In the 1970s, a large poultry shed was erected on the crash site, thwarting enquiries by several would-be recovery groups. In 2010, the area was again the subject of development when the shed was demolished, and the foundation ripped up – there was a short window of opportunity to investigate the site before a new barn was erected on the site. As any wreckage was certain to be unearthed during the ground works for the new barn, the development was put on hold while a license was obtained from the MoD.

In June, a party from many corners of the UK assembled to witness the recovery. Only inches below the surface, a yellow-tipped steel propeller blade was found, leading to a trail of wreckage that extended to a depth of 20 feet from where the Packard Merlin and propeller hub were recovered.

From the position of the wreckage, it was clear the P-51 had dived vertically into the ground at a great speed. The original investigation had failed to establish a cause, but given the circumstances of the crash and the experience of the pilot, it is likely that the cause was either oxygen failure on icing.

Members of the excavation team represented many groups, and it was agreed that the engine, as well as other pieces of the wreckage, should be displayed in the Fort Perch Rock Museum, New Brighton, a few miles from where 1/Lt Leonard D Johnson had taken off.