FORMER Trowbridge resident Philip Grist is hoping locals will be able to shed more light on a plane that crashed into the garden of a home in Clarendon Road during the Second World War.

The 82-year-old, who now lives in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, was just a boy when the plane crashed in the back garden on his grandparents’ house in the early 1940s.

He was living with his parents nearby in Clarendon Park when he heard an explosion while out in the garden with his father, who saw the column of smoke coming up and instantly recognised it as being near his parents’ home.

Mr Grist said his dad got on his bike immediately and cycled via Green Lane and through Clarendon Gardens, facing the then Tennis Court.

“Being the grandson of the couple who lived at Clarendon View, 63 Clarendon Road, I remember the whole episode vividly. The year was either 1941 or 1942 and it was Whitsunday morning,” said Mr Grist.

“I was either 7 or 8 years of age. At around 9.30 there was an explosion somewhere followed by a column of smoke. My Father's words were ‘That's coming from near dad and mum's house’ and he got on his bike immediately.

“A small plane had crashed two or three yards from the back of the house and in the middle of a soft fruits plot at the top of their small field. My grandmother had her hand on the back door handle and was just about to go out into the garden when the crash happened.

“She said everything went black and when she eventually ventured outside she was horrified by the appearance of a huge crater and a plane sticking out.”

Mr Grist recalls that remarkably the plan caused very minor damage to his grandparents’ home, but said two of the three crew members on board were killed in the incident.

“The plane could have been a trainer and it had a crew of three, but while the pilot bailed out, the other two were killed, literally smashed to pieces,” Mr Grist said.

“The pilot should have been last to bail out but on this occasion he bailed out first for some reason. In the afternoon, he was marched him to the spot and literally told ‘that's what you have done’.

“My father just remembered him weeping uncontrollably. During the week bodies of the crew were brought out and I remember being marched in doors when they discovered body parts.”

According to Mr Grist, the property was guarded by soldiers for seven days and he remembers that there were huge crowds of people gathering outside after the crash.

Mr Grist said “For seven days, the property was guarded night and day and I got to know the soldiers well and as a small boy found it all so exciting. They made a fuss of me.

“My father could only gain entrance after showing his identity card. He forgot it one day and just called in, but they marched him to his mother for identification.

“I recall that on the day of the crash, Clarendon Gardens and Clarendon Road were packed with sight-seeing people. My grandmother's exaggerated comment was ‘half of Trowbridge was out there’.

“The land where the crash happened was unusable for several years, presumably due to the amount of fuel that saturated it. I remember my father coming home on the Sunday and reporting a crater large enough to take a charabanc.

“Whilst they removed most of the wreckage one wing was never taken out. Presumably it cut into the ground first and probably it is still there under the present houses.

“The only damage to my grandparents’ house was to the chimney stack and a window in the back dining room was blown out. My grandmother always said that the builders had built a good strong house with fine foundations.”

Anyone who remembers the crash or has any information, should contact the Wiltshire Times.