Avro Lancaster Mk I
RAF Serial: NG435
Production Test Flight for Armstrong Whitworth
Crew: S/Ldr. Roger Meredith Mace, RCAF (killed)
Mr Morgan, civilian flying as Flight Engineer (killed)
Date: 16th December 1944
Place: Long Marston, Warwickshire

Avro Lancaster Mk I NG435 crashed at Long Marston, Warwickshire on 16th December 1944 after taking off from RAF Baginton, Coventry, on a production test flight for Armstrong Whitworth. The aircraft was not on operational squadron strength and was being flown by Armstrong Whitworth personnel, with S/Ldr. R. M. Mace, RCAF, serving as the company’s test pilot, accompanied by Mr Morgan, a civilian Armstrong Whitworth flight engineer.

The aircraft was seen to enter a steepening dive from approximately 12,000 feet before diving almost vertically into the ground, killing both occupants. The site was partially recovered during the 1960s by a local farmer, with local legend suggesting that one engine lay beyond the reach of the equipment used at the time. A further excavation took place in 2009, during which deeply buried Merlin engine components were located, confirming that significant remains of NG435 had survived the initial recovery.