29/05/2026
R.I.P. Paddy. 🥲 At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them.
We received this email a long time ago from Ken Rimell:
I was the person responsible for placing the plaque on the church door at Harrowbeer to Paddy Pringle, He hit the church tower in his Typhoon.
The reason for the crash was only discovered after the dedication ceremony. Several Typhoon pilots who flew with Pringle were chatting, when it was discovered his aircraft had recently been fitted with a four-bladed prop, while the others were still on three's.
Pringles engine 'over ran' on take off and with the engine at full power, and the prop mechanism not able to deliver the full Sabre potential, he looked down to see what was the matter and hit the church buttress, slicing off just 3 foot of its brickwork, but this was enough to cause the crash.
This is a tragic story; he was able to predict his death just a few days after his 21st birthday. This non-drinking pilot with a fine tenor voice was asked to sing Rose of Tralee at a mess party. He told other pilots it was a bad omen. How right he was.
Yesterday, 28th May, was the anniversary of RAF pilot Paddy Pringle’s fatal accident in 1944. On take-off, he clipped and damaged the 65 ft tower of St Paul’s Church in Yelverton. Sadly he spiralled out of control and crash landed between Yelverton and Meavy, losing his life.
From Crispin Gill's book, 'A Brief History of Yelverton', "In spite of the noise the vicar continued with his service. There had been a red light on the tower at night before that, and on all high spots around the perimeter, but after that the top of the Yelverton tower was encased in black and yellow warning screens."
A remembrance plaque was placed on a door at the base of the tower. The inscription reads,
“A NEW FLAGSTAFF WAS GIVEN ON 18TH MAY 1997
TO COMMEMORATE THE LIFE OF/ FLT/SGT J D (PADDY) PRINGLE OF 263 SQUADRON RAF
WHO DIED IN THE SERVICE OF HIS COUNTRY
28TH MAY 1944 AGED 21 YEARS
PER ARDUA AD ASTRA”
It is thought that around 200 other pilots stationed at RAF Harrowbeer lost their lives during World War Two and many were buried in St Pauls’ Churchyard.
