Lancashire

The twin engine aircraft left RAF Balderton about 2115LT with the intention of proceeding to Burtonwood via Hooten Park for ferrying parts. At the ETA Hooten Park 2150 dusk had fallen and the visibility was very poor. The pilot was unable to pinpoint himself and accordingly set course to the East, intending to return to Balderton. About five minutes before ETA Balderton, he commenced signalling on the downward identification light. At Marston Moor, the night flying program having concluded at 2210LT, the DREM lighting system was switched off with the exception of the perimeter track lighting and obstruction lighting on high buildings such as hangars, etc. At 2257LT the duty control officer received a telephone message to the effect that an aircraft was circling and flashing SOS. Full Drem lighting, including the outer circle was immediately switched on for any emergency landing. Very soon the airfield was illuminated just to the starboard of the aircraft, then at 4,000 feet. He circled twice to lose height and then proceeded to carry out a normal approach and landing. He was on approach at an IAS of 90 mph and apparently, according to instruments, at an indicated altitude of 500 feet, when the aircraft struck a tree. It immediately descended heavily to the ground and burned, causing major injuries to the three occupants. Weather: cloud 5/10 strato-cumulus up to 2,000 feet, ceiling cloud above 101/0, intermittent rain becoming continuous, visibility four miles.
Source: Norman Malayney.

While descending to RAF Coleby Grange, the twin engine aircraft hit the slope of Winter Hill, less than 40 feet from the summit. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot was seriously injured.
Crew (410th Squadron):
F/Lt Martin Anthony Cybulski.
Source:
http://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/pages/pennines/penninesbm837.htm

The pilot, sole aboard, was performing a circular training flight at Blackpool Airport. On final approach, the twin engine aircraft collided with another RAF Airspeed AS.10 Oxford registered L4603 with one pilot on board as well. Following the collision, both aircraft dove into the ground and crashed near a residential area located near the airport. Both pilots on both aircraft were killed.
Crew:
Sgt Orville Norman Elwell.

The pilot, sole aboard, was performing a circular training flight at Blackpool Airport. On final approach, the twin engine aircraft collided with another RAF Airspeed AS.10 Oxford registered X7063 with one pilot on board as well. Following the collision, both aircraft dove into the ground and crashed near a residential area located near the airport. Both pilots on both aircraft were killed.

On the afternoon of Wednesday 27 August 1941 four 256 Squadron Defiants took off from Squires Gate to practice formation flying. Their flight commander (whose name is unrecorded) was recalled back to the aerodrome, and so he handed his flight over to his No. 2, a Sergeant Leonard (RAF). Just after 3.00 p.m. the three Defiants were flying over the sea, a little West of Blackpool Tower, at an altitude of about 2,000 feet and on a North Easterly heading. Some 500 feet below them, flying in a North Westerly direction, was one of 3 SGR's Bothas, L6509. Eyewitnesses on the ground saw the Defiants break formation and, one by one, dive towards the Botha as if making a mock attack and then level out afterwards. Two of the fighters completed the manoeuvre successfully, but as the third Defiant began its dive the Botha suddenly banked to the right and the pilot of the diving fighter, Defiant N1745, JT-P, struck the Botha amidships, cutting it in two and itself losing a wing. The now tail-less Botha stalled and immediately went into a spiral dive, its descent being watched by hundreds-possibly thousands-of shocked civilians and servicemen on Blackpool's seafront. Seconds later it crashed through the roof of the entrance hall of the Central Station, showering aviation fuel over the platforms below, which erupted into a massive conflagration. A huge cloud of thick black smoke quickly rose to a height of several hundred feet over the center of Blackpool. All three occupants of the Botha and both pilots on board the Defiant were killed. At the station, 8 people on the ground were killed while 6 others died the following days.
Botha's crew (3rd SGR):
P/O A. A. Horne, pilot,
P/O K. J. A. Sale, pilot.
Passenger:
Mr. Frank Longson.
Source & photos: http://laituk.org/Botha-Defiant.htm

The airplane departed RAF Upwood on a cross-country exercise. After crossing the coast of Lancashire, the left engine failed while the airplane was completing a left turn. It went out of control and crashed into the sea some five miles southwest of Morecambe. Two crew members were killed and a third was injured.
Crew:
S/L W. R. Selkirk,
AC2 Ronald Dawson, †
P/O Thomas Riley Hodgson, †
Sgt Philip Savage. †

The crew was performing a ferry flight from RAF Sherburn-in-Elmet. En route, he encountered poor weather conditions and attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft hit a hedge and came to rest in an open field. Both occupants were uninjured and the airplane was damaged beyond repair.

The pilot, sole on board, was convoying the aircraft from RAF Silloth to RAF Squires Gate. In windy weather, the aircraft crashed upon landing and was damaged beyond repair. The pilot was unhurt.

The airplane was completing a training sortie, carrying seven crew members. While cruising at an altitude of 10,000 feet over the Isle of Man, the aircraft was hit in both port engines by antiaircraft fire. The pilot was able to cross the Irish Sea but was eventually forced to attempt an emergency landing. The aircraft crashed at Hodden Bridge, Barbon, slid into a stone wall and was wrecked. All seven crew members evacuated safely. First Stirling to be written off in Bomber Command service.
Crew:
F/Lt T. P. S. Bradley,
P/O J. W. Murray,
Sgt R. Jackson,
Sgt A. A. Griffin,
Sgt A. C. Nicholson,
Sgt E. Roberts,
AC1 J. F. Wood.

The aircraft departed RAF Dishforth at 1900LT on April 30 to bomb Oslo-Fornebu Airport. On the return flight, while flying over England at night, the aircraft was short of fuel and the captain attempted an emergency landing. The aircraft impacted a hill between Burn Fell and Dunsop Fell and was wrecked. All five crew members were injured but Sergeant Coveney died two days later from injuries sustained.
Crew (51st Squadron):
P/O Edward Cotton, pilot,
P/O John Martin Gilmer, pilot,
Sgt Walter Richard Coveney, observer, †
AC1 Peter Duncan Salmon, wireless operator,
AC1 Hugh Maylin, air gunner.