It was a routine training exercise for the pupils of the No. 2 Service Flying Training
School on the morning of September 29, 1940, when 22-year-old Leonard Graham Fuller and
19-year-old Jack Inglis Hewson were to pilot two Avro Ansons over the region of New South
Wales in Australia.
While the trainees passed over the small town of Brocklesby, the tight formation made a
turn, and suddenly they were out of view from each other.
Without warning, the two aircraft collided and then merged one on top of the other, with
the extraordinary incident captured on camera.
The crew did not want to abandon the aircraft and have them plummet towards the habitational
area below, but Fuller ordered everyone to jump out.
The pilot then made his mind: he would try to land both aircraft away from the town.
Contingency Plan
In contribution to the Empire Air Training Scheme during the early years of World War
2, Australia founded several pilot training facilities.
The huge British Commonwealth effort was a joint military aircrew program established
by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to prepare airmen for the
war.
Nearly half of the pilots, navigators, bomb aimers, air gunners, wireless operators, and
flight engineers from the British Commonwealth who served in the war were trained with the
Air Training Plan.
In fact, the BCATP remains one of the most massive aviation training programs in history.
Service Flying Training Schools received pupils after they were given basic aeronautical instruction
at an elementary flying training school and taught them the techniques they would require
as operational or service pilots.
The curriculum included instrument flying, night flying, cross-country navigation, advanced
aerobatics, formation flying, dive-bombing, and aerial gunnery.
The No. 2 Service Flying Training School, based at the Royal Australian Air Force Station
Forest Hill near Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, was still under construction when the
courses began in the summer of 1940.
Because of the ongoing war, Wagga Wagga had become a garrison town and hosted two other
military bases at Kapooka and Uranquinty, in addition to Forest Hill.
The school used the Avro Anson to train the new pilots.
Originally developed as a commercial light airliner, the Avro 652 was in service with
Imperial Airways.
However, on the lookout for a suitable maritime reconnaissance aircraft, the British Air Ministry
noticed the model's potential and a prototype twin-engined advanced training monoplane designated
Avro 652A was then developed for the Royal Air Force.
174 aircraft were ordered only four months after the prototype was produced, and the
new version was dubbed the Avro Anson in honor of the 18th century Admiral George Anson.
Jumping straight into action, the Anson first served with the Royal Air Force coastal command
in the maritime reconnaissance role it had been created for.
However, not long after, the aircraft showed several limitations, and it was quickly becoming
obsolete as a maritime aircraft against larger aircraft and flying boats.
Nevertheless, its adaptability allowed it to become a competent multi-engine trainer.
Hence, several Ansons were redeployed during the Empire Air Training Scheme, many of which
wound up in Australia at the No. 2 SFTS at Forest Hill.
Perhaps the most famous models would become tail numbers N4876 and L9162, which on September
29, 1940, collided and locked together during a cross-country training flight.
Collision
22-year-old Leonard Graham Fuller boarded his Anson for a regular training exercise
over southern New South Wales accompanied by navigator Ian Menzies Sinclair.
Meanwhile, 19-year-old Jack Inglis Hewson was to fly with Hugh Gavin Fraser as his navigator.
The route traced a triangle passing over Corowa, then Narrandera, and finally returning to
Forest Hill.
As they took off and flew at 1,000 feet in a tight formation over Brocklesby, the pair
suddenly made a banking turn.
Hewson’s Anson was behind Fuller’s, flying a bit lower.
As they turned, Hewson went out of sight, and neither pilot realized Hewson was now
beneath Fuller.
The two aircraft then collided in mid-air.
As Fuller later described, there was a: (QUOTE) "Grinding crash and a bang as roaring propellers
struck each other and bit into the engine cowlings."
As shown in photographs taken after the collision, both aircraft merged, with the lower one’s
turret wedged into the other’s wing root while its fin and rudder balanced the upper
one’s port tailplane.
Fuller described it as a: (QUOTE) “freak combination.”
Still, the upper aircraft’s engines were knocked out in the crash, though the propellers
tore into the engine cowlings of the one below.
Hewson’s engines kept running, but with the dead weight on top of the machine, the
pilot was unable to pull away.
The four airmen pondered their options.
They did not want to bail out, as the aircraft would crash on Brocklesby and could result
in many casualties.
To make matters worse, Hewson had been injured when the spinning blades cut through his fuselage,
and therefore could not pilot the aircraft, let alone the merged apparatus.
Fortunately, Fuller realized the blend was steady enough and took charge of the situation,
ordering his fellows to abandon the craft.
The three of them then jumped into the sky and parachuted to safety.
Fuller then attempted to fly the merged aircraft away from the town.
Using the ailerons and flaps on his plane and the engines of the other one for thrust,
he started making his way towards the base.
However, the engines of the bottom aircraft began to lose power not long after, making
the fusion increasingly harder to handle.
Model Pupil
After a stretch of about 5 miles, Fuller found a place to land.
Drawing on his training, he spotted an empty paddock and ran the aircraft aground, sliding
200 yards across the grass before finally coming to rest.
According to the pilot, the touchdown was the best landing he had ever made - significantly
better than the circuits and bumps he had practiced barely a day before the incident.
Fuller’s acting commanding officer, Squadron Leader Cooper, noted that his choice of improvised
runway was perfect and that the landing itself was a: (QUOTE) “Wonderful effort.”
The inspector of Air Accidents of the RAAF, Group Captain Arthur “Spud” Murphy, flew
straight to the scene from the Air Force Headquarters at Melbourne.
Upon arrival, Fuller told him: (QUOTE) “Well, sir, I did everything we've been told to do
in a forced landing—land as close as possible to habitation or a farmhouse and, if possible,
land into the wind.
I did all that.
There's the farmhouse, and I did a couple of circuits and landed into the wind.
She was pretty heavy on the controls, though!”
The extraordinary exploit made headlines across the world, and the young hero was praised
for his assertiveness when he chose not to bail out and protect the town instead.
Furthermore, he had saved both aircraft from total loss and 40,000 Australian pounds worth
of military hardware.
The Ansons were subsequently repaired, although only the one on top returned to flight service
and the other was used as an instructional airframe.
Fuller eventually earned a promotion to Sergeant.
However, the new celebrity talked too much to the media without express permission from
his superiors and was confined for fourteen days and docked seven days’ pay.
Still, he went on to receive a commendation from the Australian Air Board due to his:
(QUOTE) "Presence of mind, courage and determination in landing the locked Ansons without serious
damage to the aircraft under difficult conditions.”
Thank you for watching our video!
Don’t forget to subscribe to all our Dark Documentaries channels and hit the like button.
Also, let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and stay tuned for more historical
anecdotes and extraordinary feats.