THIS week marked the 70th anniversary of a wartime tragedy at what is now a North Swindon housing estate.

On March 25, 1944, a group of Douglas DC3 Dakotas took off from their base at Down Ampney to practice close formation flying and supply drops ahead of D-Day.

Disaster struck when two collided. One was able to return to base, but other – FL641 – had a badly damaged wing and could not.

Its 21-year-old pilot, Flt Sgt JH Sanderson, fought to keep the aircraft away from houses as it dropped, and the machine came down on farmland at Haydon End owned by Doug Clifford.

The exact spot is now a green area on the Redhouse estate.

FL641 tore through a hedge and hit an elm tree before coming to rest. All five men aboard were killed, including one who seemingly tried to bail out once the Dakota was over unpopulated land, but was too late to save himself. He was dragged across the ground by his parachute.

The memory of the flight and its heroic crew is largely kept alive by local historian and metal detector enthusiast Mark Gillett.

He said: “The two aircraft were flying over the old power station at Moredon, using that and the railway as navigational aids.

“They were detailed to drop some pallets at Wootton Bassett, practising for D-Day, but then they collided.”

A few years ago, as Redhouse was about to be built, Mr Gillett realised that any relics of the tragedy were likely to disappear forever.

He obtained permission from Mr Clifford, who has since died, to examine the site with a metal detector. Finds included a button from a flight tunic, pieces of fuselage and a foot-operated lever used to adjust control pedals. Most of these items have been dispersed to museums and local history groups.

According to Mr Gillett and other experts, accidents during the highly dangerous pre-D-Day training missions were far more frequent than most people realise. The pilot of the other aircraft in the March 25 tragedy, for example, was himself killed in another crash shortly afterwards Mr Gillett has put a film about the crash on YouTube. Search for ‘Dakota FL641 Crash near Swindon.’