Skegness
Additional Information courtesy of Tony Hibberd:
In 1994, during a routine training exercise at very low tide, the crew of the Skegness Lifeboat spotted the yellow tip of a propeller sticking out of the water.
It turned out to be one of the two propeller units from this aircraft. It was subsequently recovered and put on display in the Lifeboat Station until Feb 2017, when, due to the delivery of a much larger vessel minimising space inside the facility, the RNLI crew could no longer keep the propeller which has since been donated to the LAHC at East Kirkby.
27/28 October, 1940; HAMBURG:
Again the squadron was successful with 6 out of the 8 aircraft dispatched hitting the primary target of Hamburg; the remaining 2 bombed alternative targets.
Far more serious was the plight of F/O Bufton (X3027) and crew whose aircraft had been shot down by Lt Volker of 1/NJG2. The pilot managed courageously to force land his doomed Hampden in the sea, within a mile of the Skegness coast.
Despite the proximity of the ditching to the foreshore (it is said that the men's call for help could be heard from Skegness seafront) the rescue services were unable to reach the crew in time and tragically all perished; the body of P/O Ballas-Anderson was never recovered.
A propeller blade from this aircraft (recently recovered) is on display in the Skegness Lifeboat Station.
Hampden X3027 (EA-A)
F/O J.R. Bufton Pilot (Killed)
P/O K. Ballas-Anderson Pilot (Missing)
Sgt F.J.W. Bichard W/AG (Killed)
Sgt R.F. Robertson W/AG (Killed)