Flight Sergeant Colin David Brough RAFVR (1570574) was the observer of the six-man crew on board a Douglas C-47 Skytrain (Dakota DC-3) KG747 when it crashed on 8 June 1946 in Nigeria. The aircraft was on route from Kano Airport (now Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport), Nigeria to Lagos/Ikeja Airport (now Murtala Muhammed International Airport), Nigeria.
The weather was poor with low visibility and turbulence in cumulonimbus cloud. To avoid the low pressure area, the pilot reduced his altitude and descended below the clouds. The aircraft hit tree tops and crashed in a wooded area a mile north east of Oni, Abeokuta Ogun, about 85 miles north of Lagos. All 22 on board (civilians, medical staff and engineers included) perished. An African civilian on the ground was also killed.
The six crew were:
Flight Lieutenant James Henry Gilfillan RAFVR (153036) pilot, age 22
Warrant Officer Cecil Brian Morgan RAFVR (1412375) pilot, age 22
Flying Officer Colin Henry Lynch RAFVR (167984) navigator, age 20
Flight Sergeant Colin David Brough RAFVR (1570574) observer, age 22
Aircraftman 1st Class Raymond William Peden RAFVR (1901334) position unknown, age 22
Flight Sergeant Roy Pitt RAFVR (1817246) U/T (Under Training) air gunner, age 21
Brough is buried at Yaba Cemetary, Nigeria, Plot 4, Row 1, Grave 4. He was the son of Colin and Margaret Ross Brough, Milnathort.
It was reported that the navigation charts used by the crew were partially wrong. The altitudes marked were incorrect.
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A Royal Air Force Douglas Dakota C.III VIP transport aircraft (serial KG770) of No. 24 Squadron RAF based at Hendon, Middlesex (UK), in flight carrying King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on a visit to the Channel Islands, 1945.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dakota_24_Sqn_RAF_with_King_George_VI_in_flight_1945.jpg – Unknown author / Public domain This work created by the United Kingdom Government is in the public domain
