Thornaby AFB

The twin engine airplane departed RAF Thornaby at 1100LT on a convoy escort mission over the North Sea. En route, the airplane was mistakenly shot down by the pilot of a RAF Hurricane and crashed into the sea. A crew member survived while three others were killed.
Crew:
P/O Arthur Denis Baird, pilot, †
F/Lt Geoffrey Whitley Garnett, copilot, †
Cpl Richard Andrew Wilson, †
AC2 J. P. Smith.

Following a wrong approach configuration, the twin engine aircraft landed too far down the runway and was unable to stop within the remaining distance. It overran and collided with a hedge before coming to rest. Both pilots escaped uninjured.

Shortly after takeoff from RAF Leuchars, while climbing to a height of 300 feet, the airplane stalled, entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed about 800 metres from the airfield. The aircraft was destroyed and all six occupants were killed. They were on a transit flight to RAF Thornaby.
Crew:
F/O Desmond George Perry, pilot,
P/O John William Crawford McFarlane, copilot.
Passengers:
Sgt Harry Letchford,
P/O Richard Atkinson Barker,
AC1 Frederick Henderson May,
AC1 Cyril Arthur Bates.

Following a reconnaissance mission, the crew was returning to his base at RAF Thornaby. The twin engine airplane landed too far down the runway, overran, collided with a hedge and came to rest. Both crew members evacuated safely and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
Crew:
P/O Cameron William McNeill, pilot,
F/O Charles Philip Wright, observer.

The pilot departed RAF Thornaby on his first solo flight. En route, he lost control of the airplane that crashed in Maltby. The pilot was killed.
Crew:
P/O Reginald Raymond Harper, pilot.

The crew was flying in formation with other similar aircraft, bound for the RAF Thornaby. The aircraft entered an area of cloud when control was lost. The airplane crashed into the Humber Estuary off Bridlington. All four crew members from the 233th Squadron were killed.
Crew:
Sgt Cecil Joseph Le Patrick Gordon, pilot,
AC2 Thomas Charles Andrews,
AC1 Melville George Brand,
AC1 Leslie Freeman.

The crew was performing a night training flight over the North Sea on behalf of the 233th Squadron. In unknown circumstances, the twin engine aircraft went out of control and crashed into the sea in a huge explosion. All three crewmen were killed.
Crew:
F/Lt William Noel Hamilton Banks,
P/O Felix Oswald Thresher,
AC1 Robert Munro.

At around 06.50hrs on Saturday, 11th September 1937 this aircraft took off from Thornaby airfield with its crew instructed to carry out a Home Fleet exercise over a wide area off the east coast of Scotland. The crew of this aircraft carried out their task and made their return south with the aim of returning to Thornaby and they passed Newcastle just before 10.00hrs, the weather became poor as they flew south and thick fog was present towards the mouth of the River Tees. The crew making their way along the coastline towards the Middlesbrough area to return to Thornaby airfield and it was thought that the navigator had missed the turn inland when over the Tees estuary because of the poor visibility. Flying at a height of 750 feet the aircraft passed over Guisborough, but it was later believed that those on the aircraft mistook Guisborough to have been Greatham as the two towns looked similar from above and in the bad visibility the mistake could be made. The aircraft flew over Guisborough at low height and ploughed into the hillside above Belmont Mine at 10.45hrs killing all four on board instantly. Local people had heard the plane fly over just before the accident and also heard the engines fall silent after the resulting crash, many local people made their way up onto the moor to try and locate the site which they could not see because of the fog from the town below. Nothing could be done for the airmen, they were certified dead at the scene and were later carried down from the moor and taken to the Admiral Chaloner Hospital in Guisborough where they lay until removal for burial.
Crew:
P/O Leonard W. Lowden,
P/O Hugh G. McDonald,
P/O David Sorley Munro,
AC1 Thomas Douglas.
Source: www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk

The pilot lost his orientation while cruising in foggy conditions and was unable to locate the Thornaby Airfield. He attempted to make an emergency landing in a bog when the airplane hit the ground and came to rest upside down, somewhere in North Yorkshire (the exact location is unknown). The pilot William Vernon Lewis Spendlove (from the 608th Squadron based at RAF Thornaby) was uninjured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.