Civilian killed in the crash of Hampden bomber P4399.
Our colleague Andrew Behan has kindly researched this woman: Alice Yates was born on 25 September 1899, the daughter of Edward Thomas Yates and Elizabeth Harriett Yates née Combes. Her father was a Stationary Engine Driver. Electoral registers from 1937 show the family living at 69 East Hill, Dartford, Kent. On the 1939 Register she was shown as a Canteen Hand.
On the night of Wednesday, 30 July 1941 a Handley Page Hampden Bomber, serial number P4399, took off from RAF Luffenham in Rutland at 23.06 hours on a night bombing raid to Cologne, Germany. On its return it flew into an electrical storm and crashed onto houses at 65-69 East Hill, Dartford, Kent, killing three RAF personnel on the aircraft and two civilians on the ground. Alice Yates was injured and died on 1 August 1941 at the County Hospital, Dartford and was buried in the Watling Street Cemetery, Dartford. Probate records show that she was a spinster and administration was granted to her father, Edward Thomas Yates. Her estate totalled £245-7s-10d.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
