35th Anniversary of the Hercules crash in Pisa
Royal Air Force Lyneham
www.raf.mod.uk/raflyneham
21st November 2006
On 9 November 1971, 24 Squadron suffered a tragic loss when a crew captained by Flt Lt Colin Harrison were lost when their aircraft crashed into the sea off Pisa in Italy with 46 Italian paratroopers on board. They were on detachment at Pisa and had just taken off as number 6 in a formation of 9 aircraft. It was early in the morning and there was un-forecast low cloud over the sea. Shortly after Number 6 failed to check in on the radio the second element lead reported an orange fireball on the sea. The 3rd element stayed on the ground, whilst the rest of the stream returned to base. The crewmembers were:

Captain: Flight Lieutenant Colin Harrison
Co-pilot: Flying Officer Rick Swann-Price
Navigator: Flying Officer Mike Fawcett
Air Engineer: Flight Sergeant Brian King
ALM: Sergeant Paul Fulford
PJI: Sergeantt Ralph Lee

To honour this years’ 35th Memorial of the crash, a delegation from 24 Squadron lead by OC 24, Wing Commander Don Turnbull, travelled to Pisa to participate in the memorial service. Also in attendance were Group Captain Richard Bates, who was OC 24 Squadron at the time of the accident in 1971, and relatives of the crewmembers. They were particularly pleased to see that the Squadron still commemorates this event. In addition, a C-130J from 24 Squadron flew into Pisa for the weekend as part of the Conversion Flight line training, which meant there was a further 10 personnel to pay their respects to the fallen airmen.

The day started with a Church ceremony in the 187th Folgore Parachute Regiments’ Barracks with readings from the Colonel of the 187th, Colonel Aldo Mezzalana, followed by a reading from Wing Commander Mark Attrill representing the British Embassy in Rome. The church was full of family members of the fallen paratroopers and crews, as well as many paratroopers who were onboard the other aircraft in the formation on 9th November 1971.

After the service we were transported to the Official memorial on a hill overlooking the coast where the aircraft crashed. Here, even more people turned out to watch the laying of the wreaths by OC 24 Squadron, Group Captain Bates, Wing Commander Attrill and the 187th Folgore. A few words were spoken to the large crowd, many of whom had stood outside the church in the rain to be near to the service, to tell of the loss of life on that day, and to remind everyone that the dead shall not be forgotten.

The final visit was to the cemetery where the paratroopers are buried and where a large marble Memorial to commemorates those that died in the crash had been erected. During these speeches, the Italian Colonel gave a roll call of the fallen, which was answered by a chorus of ‘presente’ by all the 187th members. This was a particularly poignant tribute as the names of the 24 Squadron crew were included as if they were one of their own. After the ceremony, many of the paras that were on that sortie wanted to talk to us and thank us for coming to their memorial. They were very genuine people and were pleased that we had made the effort to visit the memorial service.

We later returned to the barracks to pick up our cars and retire for the day only to find that a large lunch had been prepared in true Italian style, with many courses and plenty of wine and pasta. The Italians were truly fantastic hosts and they could not have done anymore for us. Many of the family members who were accompanying us were moved by how well we were hosted and how delicately the Italians supported the families of the fallen crew.

Wing Commander Don Turnbull, OC 24 Squadron said, “We were very pleased to be able to attend this ceremony. It is very important to us as a Squadron that we are able to be here for this significant anniversary. It is also important to us that the families of those who died see that we still remember and acknowledge what happened all those years ago. We are keen to forge strong links with the Italians in Pisa and with 187 Folgore Parachute Regiment.”

The day concluded with a tour of the history room and a quick brief on their operations in Iraq, where the 187th were pivotal in the successful handover of the Dhi Qar province. Strangely, it was a 24 Sqn crew that had flown the 187th out of Dhi Qar and back to Basra earlier this year when we were running the OP TELIC detachment in Basra and then Al Udeid.

Clearly the two units have historical links and their paths have continued to cross over the years. Next year we plan to take an aircraft again, but this time to undertake parachute serials to cement the bond between the two units.