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WW2 aircraft donated to museum for restoration

Tom MacDougallYorkshire
News imageSOUTH YORKSHIRE AIRCRAFT MUSEUM A historic photo of a World War Two Bristol Bolingbroke bomber plane, taken from the personal archive of Sheffield pilot Ernest Lewis Ellis, who died in 1945.SOUTH YORKSHIRE AIRCRAFT MUSEUM
A Bolingbroke bomber plane has been donated to the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum

A World War Two aircraft has been donated to the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum for restoration and display.

The museum in Doncaster was gifted the Bristol Bolingbroke bomber - dated from 1942 - by the Imperial War Museum (IWM), which had already started to repair it.

It was used as a training aircraft for British Commonwealth bomber pilots in Calgary, Canada, before being pulled from service within its first year after being heavily damaged during a flight.

Museum trustee Sam Scrimshaw said: "We're really pleased to have it as a project and to restore it back to a complete aircraft again."

News imageSouth Yorkshire Aircraft Museum The plane as it currently exists, disassembled into different parts which the museum intends to restore before returning it to a complete aircraft.South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum
The aircraft is currently disassembled as part of its restoration, which was started by the Imperial War Museum

During its final flight by Flying Officer J D Heacock in December1942, it suffered a port engine failure shortly after take-off.

Heacock performed a forced landing about 12 miles (19.3km) away from the airfield, where it hit a telephone pole.

It was not repaired during the remainder of the war, and was acquired by the IWM in 1980.

Scrimshaw explained the completed plane would be displayed as part of an exhibition exploring the life of a local wartime pilot, Ernest Lewis Ellis from Sheffield.

Ellis completed his training in Canada, during which he flew more than 40 different Bolingbroke aircraft.

In 1944, he was stationed at RAF Kirmington in North Lincolnshire - which is now Humberside Airport.

On his 23rd mission in February 1945, his aircraft was shot down over France by German fighter planes and he was presumed killed in action.

The plane was flown by Sheffield pilot Ernest Lewis Ellis, who died in 1945 and will be honoured by a new exhibition

Flying Officer John "Johnny" William Rae was on the same mission in the same plane, with Ellis as captain.

Rae escaped the plane with a parachute and was taken prisoner by the Germans.

After the war he was released and wrote a letter to Ellis' parents.

He wrote: "There was a large red fire on the ground which may well have been our aircraft, and the Germans told us that several aircraft had crashed and various numbers of bodies were found.

"Lewis was one of the best friends I have ever had and could ever wish to have, and as a pilot and skipper, he was one of the best and I am sure we all got that little extra bit of confidence when we used to hear his voice."

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