The Inventor of Stereo

Introduction

Shortly after 4.20 p.m. on Sunday, 7 June 1942, a glorious summer’s day, clear skies, warm sunshine and perfect visibility for flying, a Halifax bomber crashed into the shallow hillside of a field just north of the River Wye near the village of Welsh Bicknor in Herefordshire. All eleven occupants aboard were killed in the enormous fire, which engulfed the aircraft on impact.

The consequences of that crash were, at the time, considered grave enough for none other than Winston Churchill to shroud the events in secrecy. Family members were withheld from publishing obituaries, no mention of the crash appeared in the press, even the bodies of those who had died were held for several days, before finally being released for burial.

These ...