Bersham
Note: This map only gives a position for Bersham within the UK. If anybody today can kindly provide a more exact location for this cricket ground, this advice will be very welcome.
BERSHAM: Cricket Club ground
NOTES: I mention this, and just a few other examples, to make the point that many successful forced landings were often made, (and still are), due to a variety of reasons. In this case it appears that a Percival Vega Gull, (probably L7272), ran out of fuel and landed at this location about 1.5nm WSW of Wrexham town centre.
Today of course running out of fuel is a cardinal sin and just why this pilot did so remains a mystery - perhaps by getting lost?. However, it seems that a local inn-keeper royally entertained the pilot, and, without causing too much damage to the wicket, he managed to obtain some fuel and continued on his way.
SOMETHING TO BEAR IN MIND
A point I’d like to make is that civilian pilots especially during the inter-war years seemed pretty willing to make a forced landing for various reasons, often weather related of course, and that these often resulted in no damage to the aircraft let alone injury or a fatal result for the pilot and/or passengers. Indeed it was all part and parcel of flying and regularly practised. Then again, the aircraft of that era were designed to cope with such an eventuallity.
I have no idea why, but at face value the RAF seemed to operate a regime whereby a precautionary landing wasn’t to be tolerated? Although many crews did. However, without any doubt a large number of crews at all stages in their flying careers attempted to fly through horrendous conditions inorder to return to their base! Resulting in a large number of fatalities.
This is now known as the highly dangerous ‘Get-home-at-all-costs’ mindset. And, to some extent at least due to commercial pressures, still preserved today by some airline management regimes putting pressure on aircrews to push the limits. It is thankfully a rare occassion that an airliner crashes, but when it does happen it is usually fatal for all on board. In many cases one does have to wonder - why on earth did the crew decide to fly in such appalling weather conditions? Typically of the type when I was learning to fly, an instructor would advise; "Never attempt to fly in these conditions - they will kill you".
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