I don't know what the 'R.D.' stands for. It won't be 'registration district', as East Kirkby was in Spilsby registration district at this time and was never important enough to have its own registration district. Although it looks like 'R.D.', I wonder whether it could perhaps be 'A.D.' for 'aerodrome'? That's a long shot – but it's the only thing I can think of.
According to the Lincolnshire Standard article referred to by softly softly, the details of the incident are as follows:
* At the time the deceased (Mr O) was employed by a firm of contractors preparing the floor for a transformer station at the aerodrome (RAF East Kirkby).
* [RAF East Kirkby had opened at the beginning of WWII, but as a decoy site. During 1942-43 it was upgraded to a Class A standard operational airfield with concrete runways, perimeter tracks, hangars, hardstandings etc. It could be that Mr O was involved in upgrading the station's electricity supply as part of this work. The main contractors for the construction work – laying of runways etc – were John Laing & Son Ltd, but I don't know whether they, or another company, were involved in the work on its transformer station].
* The accident involving Mr O occurred because of a misunderstanding between his foreman and a Ministry official. The Ministry official had told the foreman that the power to the transformer station would be switched off "between 10am and 4pm" to allow the men to work inside it. The foreman took that to mean "between 10am and 4pm each day for the rest of the week". He passed this on to Mr O, telling him that the power would be switched off between those hours each day for the rest of the week.
* In fact the official had meant only that the power was to be switched off between those hours on the Monday.
* The following day (Tuesday) Mr O ignored a warning notice saying 'Danger, 3,000 volts' and touched a cable inside the transformer station, thinking the power had been turned off, when in fact it was on.
* Because the foreman had told him the current would be off, Mr O was wearing hobnail boots rather than rubber boots and rubber gloves.
* Two of his colleagues told the inquest, held on 18th Nov at Spilsby, that Mr O touched the cable, gave a "terrible shout," and immediately fell over. They managed to drag him away by his shoulders, but according to the Standard, Mr O "received the full current and was at once killed."
Verdict: Accidental death.
I hope this helps.
