Cold War killings commemorated on 70th anniversary

The Avro Lincoln, similar to this, was on a routine training flight from its base at RAF Leconfield

RuthAS Avro Lincoln — The Avro Lincoln, similar to this, was on a routine training flight from its base at RAF Leconfield

Seventy years ago an RAF aircraft on a training flight from its East Yorkshire base was shot down by Soviet fighters over Germany killing all seven crew.

The downing of the aircraft was described by the then Prime Minister Winston Churchill as a "cruel and wanton attack".

It was the only British military aeroplane to have been destroyed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

RF531 was one of two Avro Lincolns from the Central Gunnery School that set off from RAF Leconfield on the morning of 12 March 1953.

At the controls was Flt Sgt Peter Dunnell with a crew of six airmen, which also included Sqn Ldr H J Fitz who had taken command of the unit a few days earlier.

The aircraft were on a routine mission which took place every fortnight.

The Lincolns would take off from East Yorkshire and head over West Germany before flying along the designated air corridors over Communist-controlled East Germany to Berlin.

NATO fighters would practise intercepting the aircraft in mock dogfights. To avoid accidents the guns on the Lincoln were not loaded, but had cameras mounted in the turrets so the exercise could be filmed and reviewed afterwards.

The aircraft was shot down by two MIG 15 fighters from the Soviet air force

Walter Civitico Soviet MIG 15 — The aircraft was shot down by two MIG 15 fighters from the Soviet air force

The first aircraft was buzzed by two Soviet fighters until it changed course for home.

Sgt Dunnell's aircraft was also intercepted over Boizenburg, near Hamburg, by two MIG 15s which opened fire causing the aircraft to burst into flames and disintegrate.

British troops and German civilians on the ground reported that three airman bailed out of the burning aircraft and were shot at by the Soviet fighters as they descended.

In the war of words that followed the Soviet Union claimed the RAF aircraft had opened fired and even produced gun casings which they claimed came from the wreckage which had landed in the Russian sector.

Speaking in the House of Lords, the Secretary of State for Air Lord De L'Isle and Dudley said the RAF aircraft was unarmed, adding: "The Russian assertion that the Lincoln opened fire on them is utterly untrue."

An RAF inquiry found the aircraft had accidentally strayed into Soviet airspace but was back over the British sector when it was attacked.

The bodies and wreckage were returned a few days later by the Soviets, who expressed "regret" over the incident.

Five of the crew were buried in St Catherine's Church close to the RAF Leconfield air base

RAF crew graves in churchyard — Five of the crew were buried in St Catherine's Church close to the RAF Leconfield air base

Five of the crew were buried a week later with full military honours in St Catherine's Church in Leconfield a short distance from the airfield.

Rumours persist to this day that the aircraft was on an intelligence gathering mission.

Richard Aldrich, Professor of International Security at Warwick University, said that the flights had a function beyond gunnery training.

Prof Aldrich said that although RF531 was not directly on a reconnaissance flight its progress would have been closely monitored by Western forces.

"As those aircraft flew along they would alert the Soviet air defence system," he said. "And that would allow Western intelligence to map the response."