His was born in 1922 at Bristol and was the son of William James Newman of Barton Hill, Bristol (1889-1977) and Florence Mabel Newman nee Hallam of Derby, Derbyshire (1890-1977), who were married at Derby in 1920. Maurice's father was an engine fitter and engineer and the family home was in the St. George area of Bristol. His only known sibling was his brother; Ronald Hallam Newman (1926-1991)
In WW2 Maurice joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Service No: 1410814) and rose to the rank of Flight Sergeant. He served with 115 Squadron, who were based at RAF Graveley, Huntingdonshire.
On the 21st of February 1946, at 11.20am, he was acting as the Flight Navigator in an Avro Lancaster B.Mk.1 (Serial No. PB373), when it crashed, killing all six crew on board. The crew were completing a test flight when the aircraft exploded in the air, disintegrated and eventually crashed in a field. The exact cause of the accident could not be determined with 100% certainty. However, the elevator rib booms had failed under high stress loads, and the aircraft's wingtips failed. It is also possible that the aircraft caught fire in flight. Several elements from elevators and wings were sheared off while the aircraft was diving into the ground. The explosion took place at 1,000 feet, and the wreckage was spread over a wide area with the largest "chunks" coming down at Fosse Cottages, Fosse Way, and Red House Farm, between Cubbington and Offchurch, near Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. Of the six crew, one of the bodies was found within the fuselage of the aircraft, three in a field nearby to the wreckage, and two others 100 yards from the wreckage. It was feared that a seventh body could not be located despite a frantic search, but, in fact, the seventh man, Flt/Sgt. Robinson, who had been due to take part in the sortie, was safe and well back at RAF Graveley. A single parachute had been observed to descend from the aircraft but on closer inspection it became clear that there was no harness attached to it and it must therefore have been blown clear and unfurled during its descent. There was an unfortunate event once the bodies had been located in which a man was seen trying to steal a wristwatch from one of the bodies. This was reported in several newspapers after the event. The individual concerned was spotted and told to put it back by a local resident. He did so, and made off without the watch.
Maurice was aged 23 years, and was buried at Plot Pink. W. Grave 17 at the Avon View Cemetery, St George, Bristol, where he shares the grave-site with his parents.
The other Crew-members of Lancaster PB373 were:
Pilot: Flight Lieutenant 153835 John Douglas Cantrell (aged 23)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56208457/john-douglas-cantrell
Flight Engineer: Flight Sergeant 1737531 Donald Frederick Payne
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/144559462/donald-frederick-payne
Air Bomber: Flight Lieutenant 154518 Frederick Reginald Berry (aged 21)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58318902/frederick-reginald-berry
Wireless Op/Air Gunner: Flight Sergeant 1819939 Dennis William Crutchley (aged 21)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59586772/dennis-william-crutchley
Air Gunner: Flight Sergeant 1811928 Ronald Stedman
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24346440/ronald-stedman
In WW2 Maurice joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Service No: 1410814) and rose to the rank of Flight Sergeant. He served with 115 Squadron, who were based at RAF Graveley, Huntingdonshire.
On the 21st of February 1946, at 11.20am, he was acting as the Flight Navigator in an Avro Lancaster B.Mk.1 (Serial No. PB373), when it crashed, killing all six crew on board. The crew were completing a test flight when the aircraft exploded in the air, disintegrated and eventually crashed in a field. The exact cause of the accident could not be determined with 100% certainty. However, the elevator rib booms had failed under high stress loads, and the aircraft's wingtips failed. It is also possible that the aircraft caught fire in flight. Several elements from elevators and wings were sheared off while the aircraft was diving into the ground. The explosion took place at 1,000 feet, and the wreckage was spread over a wide area with the largest "chunks" coming down at Fosse Cottages, Fosse Way, and Red House Farm, between Cubbington and Offchurch, near Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. Of the six crew, one of the bodies was found within the fuselage of the aircraft, three in a field nearby to the wreckage, and two others 100 yards from the wreckage. It was feared that a seventh body could not be located despite a frantic search, but, in fact, the seventh man, Flt/Sgt. Robinson, who had been due to take part in the sortie, was safe and well back at RAF Graveley. A single parachute had been observed to descend from the aircraft but on closer inspection it became clear that there was no harness attached to it and it must therefore have been blown clear and unfurled during its descent. There was an unfortunate event once the bodies had been located in which a man was seen trying to steal a wristwatch from one of the bodies. This was reported in several newspapers after the event. The individual concerned was spotted and told to put it back by a local resident. He did so, and made off without the watch.
Maurice was aged 23 years, and was buried at Plot Pink. W. Grave 17 at the Avon View Cemetery, St George, Bristol, where he shares the grave-site with his parents.
The other Crew-members of Lancaster PB373 were:
Pilot: Flight Lieutenant 153835 John Douglas Cantrell (aged 23)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56208457/john-douglas-cantrell
Flight Engineer: Flight Sergeant 1737531 Donald Frederick Payne
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/144559462/donald-frederick-payne
Air Bomber: Flight Lieutenant 154518 Frederick Reginald Berry (aged 21)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58318902/frederick-reginald-berry
Wireless Op/Air Gunner: Flight Sergeant 1819939 Dennis William Crutchley (aged 21)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59586772/dennis-william-crutchley
Air Gunner: Flight Sergeant 1811928 Ronald Stedman
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24346440/ronald-stedman
His was born in 1922 at Bristol and was the son of William James Newman of Barton Hill, Bristol (1889-1977) and Florence Mabel Newman nee Hallam of Derby, Derbyshire (1890-1977), who were married at Derby in 1920. Maurice's father was an engine fitter and engineer and the family home was in the St. George area of Bristol. His only known sibling was his brother; Ronald Hallam Newman (1926-1991)
In WW2 Maurice joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Service No: 1410814) and rose to the rank of Flight Sergeant. He served with 115 Squadron, who were based at RAF Graveley, Huntingdonshire.
On the 21st of February 1946, at 11.20am, he was acting as the Flight Navigator in an Avro Lancaster B.Mk.1 (Serial No. PB373), when it crashed, killing all six crew on board. The crew were completing a test flight when the aircraft exploded in the air, disintegrated and eventually crashed in a field. The exact cause of the accident could not be determined with 100% certainty. However, the elevator rib booms had failed under high stress loads, and the aircraft's wingtips failed. It is also possible that the aircraft caught fire in flight. Several elements from elevators and wings were sheared off while the aircraft was diving into the ground. The explosion took place at 1,000 feet, and the wreckage was spread over a wide area with the largest "chunks" coming down at Fosse Cottages, Fosse Way, and Red House Farm, between Cubbington and Offchurch, near Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. Of the six crew, one of the bodies was found within the fuselage of the aircraft, three in a field nearby to the wreckage, and two others 100 yards from the wreckage. It was feared that a seventh body could not be located despite a frantic search, but, in fact, the seventh man, Flt/Sgt. Robinson, who had been due to take part in the sortie, was safe and well back at RAF Graveley. A single parachute had been observed to descend from the aircraft but on closer inspection it became clear that there was no harness attached to it and it must therefore have been blown clear and unfurled during its descent. There was an unfortunate event once the bodies had been located in which a man was seen trying to steal a wristwatch from one of the bodies. This was reported in several newspapers after the event. The individual concerned was spotted and told to put it back by a local resident. He did so, and made off without the watch.
Maurice was aged 23 years, and was buried at Plot Pink. W. Grave 17 at the Avon View Cemetery, St George, Bristol, where he shares the grave-site with his parents.
The other Crew-members of Lancaster PB373 were:
Pilot: Flight Lieutenant 153835 John Douglas Cantrell (aged 23)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56208457/john-douglas-cantrell
Flight Engineer: Flight Sergeant 1737531 Donald Frederick Payne
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/144559462/donald-frederick-payne
Air Bomber: Flight Lieutenant 154518 Frederick Reginald Berry (aged 21)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58318902/frederick-reginald-berry
Wireless Op/Air Gunner: Flight Sergeant 1819939 Dennis William Crutchley (aged 21)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59586772/dennis-william-crutchley
Air Gunner: Flight Sergeant 1811928 Ronald Stedman
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24346440/ronald-stedman
In WW2 Maurice joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Service No: 1410814) and rose to the rank of Flight Sergeant. He served with 115 Squadron, who were based at RAF Graveley, Huntingdonshire.
On the 21st of February 1946, at 11.20am, he was acting as the Flight Navigator in an Avro Lancaster B.Mk.1 (Serial No. PB373), when it crashed, killing all six crew on board. The crew were completing a test flight when the aircraft exploded in the air, disintegrated and eventually crashed in a field. The exact cause of the accident could not be determined with 100% certainty. However, the elevator rib booms had failed under high stress loads, and the aircraft's wingtips failed. It is also possible that the aircraft caught fire in flight. Several elements from elevators and wings were sheared off while the aircraft was diving into the ground. The explosion took place at 1,000 feet, and the wreckage was spread over a wide area with the largest "chunks" coming down at Fosse Cottages, Fosse Way, and Red House Farm, between Cubbington and Offchurch, near Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. Of the six crew, one of the bodies was found within the fuselage of the aircraft, three in a field nearby to the wreckage, and two others 100 yards from the wreckage. It was feared that a seventh body could not be located despite a frantic search, but, in fact, the seventh man, Flt/Sgt. Robinson, who had been due to take part in the sortie, was safe and well back at RAF Graveley. A single parachute had been observed to descend from the aircraft but on closer inspection it became clear that there was no harness attached to it and it must therefore have been blown clear and unfurled during its descent. There was an unfortunate event once the bodies had been located in which a man was seen trying to steal a wristwatch from one of the bodies. This was reported in several newspapers after the event. The individual concerned was spotted and told to put it back by a local resident. He did so, and made off without the watch.
Maurice was aged 23 years, and was buried at Plot Pink. W. Grave 17 at the Avon View Cemetery, St George, Bristol, where he shares the grave-site with his parents.
The other Crew-members of Lancaster PB373 were:
Pilot: Flight Lieutenant 153835 John Douglas Cantrell (aged 23)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56208457/john-douglas-cantrell
Flight Engineer: Flight Sergeant 1737531 Donald Frederick Payne
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/144559462/donald-frederick-payne
Air Bomber: Flight Lieutenant 154518 Frederick Reginald Berry (aged 21)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58318902/frederick-reginald-berry
Wireless Op/Air Gunner: Flight Sergeant 1819939 Dennis William Crutchley (aged 21)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59586772/dennis-william-crutchley
Air Gunner: Flight Sergeant 1811928 Ronald Stedman
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24346440/ronald-stedman
Inscription
Personal Inscription:
ALSO HIS FATHER WILLIAM 6TH FEBRUARY 1977 AGE 87 AND HIS MOTHER FLORENCE 28TH DECEMBER 1977 AGE 88
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