Dead From 1950 Plane Crash To Be Buried

The crew and passengers of a Royal Air Force plane, including two men from Dorchester and Bournemouth, which crashed deep in the Malaysian jungle more than 60 years ago, are to be laid to rest.

Twelve men, including eight British servicemen, died after their RAF Dakota aircraft suffered catastrophic engine failure and went down during a mission in 1950. UK forces were dispatched to the country to fight against Communist insurgents in a conflict known as the Malayan Emergency between 1948 and 1960.

The plane from 52 Squadron had been dropping smoke markers near Kempong Jendera to help Lincoln bombers pinpoint Communist camps, but it lost power during its second run and plummeted into a ravine.

RAF pilot Edward Talbot, 27, from Dorchester, Dorset; navigator Geoffrey Carpenter, 23, from West Norwood, Greater London and signaller Thomas O'Toole, 34, from Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, were the crew.

They left their base at RAF Changi, Singapore, on the morning of August 25 1950 with four Royal Army Service Corps Despatchers - Corporal Phillip Bryant, 25, from Southend-on-Sea, Essex; Driver Peter Taylor, 20, from Bournemouth, Dorset; Driver Roy Wilson, 21, from Birkenhead, Merseyside and Driver Oliver Goldsmith, 21, from Neston, Cheshire.

Passengers Major John Procter, a British Army Officer; Anker Rentse, a civilian lands development officer; Pc Mohammed Bin Abdul Lalil; Sakiak guide Saiap Alais Sherda and civilian Yaacob Mat were picked up later at Kota Bahu airfield.

A rescue party reached the crash site in early September 1950 after nine days journey on foot to discover all 12 had died.

The bodies were buried near the crash site in a shallow grave because the difficult terrain and prevailing security situation placed the rescue party at severe risk of attack.

In November 2008 a 150-strong team of Malaysian military, police and specialist forensic archaeologists recovered the men's remains.

They will be buried at 7.30am on Thursday 15th March local time - 11.30pm on Wednesday GMT - at the Cheras Road Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The men's families will then be presented with Elizabeth Crosses.