Country
code

North Yorkshire

Crash of a Bristol 142 Blenheim IVF near Sherburn-in-Elmet: 2 killed

Date & Time: Mar 29, 1942 at 2330 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
N3561
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Church Fenton - Church Fenton
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
The crew departed RAF Church Fenton on a night training exercise. While cruising at an altitude of 22,000 feet, the airplane entered an uncontrolled and crashed at high speed in a pasture in Sherburn-in-Elmet. Both crew members were killed.
Crew:
Sgt Walter Hibbard Bailey, pilot,
Sgt John Prince, observer.
Probable cause:
The exact cause of the accident could not be determined. However, the assumption that the loss of control was the consequence of the failure of the oxygen supply or a sudden indisposition of the pilot was not ruled out.

Crash of an Airspeed AS.10 Oxford I at RAF Church Fenton: 1 killed

Date & Time: Mar 28, 1942 at 0525 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
V3990
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Church Fenton - Church Fenton
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
The pilot was completing a local solo training flight at RAF Church Fenton. While circling in the vicinity of the airbase at night, he lost control of the airplane that crashed north of the airfield. The airplane was destroyed and the pilot was killed.
Crew:
Sgt Hylton George Cullen, pilot.

Crash of an Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley V near Kettlewell

Date & Time: Mar 28, 1942 at 0525 LT
Operator:
Registration:
Z9481
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Schedule:
Dishforth – Dishforth
MSN:
2443
YOM:
1942
Region:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Dishforth at 2029LT on March 27 on an operation to Saint-Nazaire. Unable to locate the target area due to poor weather conditions, the crew decided to return to base the following morning. The airplane strayed off course until it impacted the slope of Mt Great Whernside located two miles northeast of Kittlewell. All six crew members were injured.
Crew:
F/Sgt Ernest Clow, pilot,
P/O Arthur Scott, pilot,
Sgt Richard Stanley Ryder, observer,
Sgt George Fraser MacKay, wireless operator,
Sgt William Arthur Jones, wireless operator,
Sgt Richard Henry Craven, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Controlled flight into terrain.

Crash of an Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley V near Kirby Malzaerd: 1 killed

Date & Time: Mar 28, 1942 at 0400 LT
Operator:
Registration:
Z9221
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Schedule:
Leeming - Leeming
MSN:
2326
YOM:
1941
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Leeming in the evening of March 27 on an operation to Saint-Nazaire. Due to poor weather conditions over the target area, the crew was unable to locate Saint-Nazaire and returned to base. On the return leg, the airplane drifted off course. In low visibility over high ground, it impacted trees and crashed in a wooded area near Kirby Malzaerd, bursting into flames. The observer was killed and four other crew members were injured. The airplane was destroyed by a post crash fire.
Crew:
P/O James Arnold Harrison, pilot,
Sgt Joseph Wallace Paul Emile Louthood, pilot,
Sgt Douglas Murton Colledge, observer,
F/Sgt Michael O'Donovan-Fuller, wireless operator,
Sgt Andrew McArthur Waddell, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Controlled flight into terrain.

Crash of a Bristol 142 Blenheim IV at RAF Church Fenton: 1 killed

Date & Time: Mar 26, 1942
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
R3808
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Church Fenton - Church Fenton
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
The pilot was completing a local night solo training exercise at RAF Church Fenton. On final, the airplane was too low and misaligned with the runway so the pilot initiated a go around procedure. Few minutes later, on a second attempt to land, at a height of about 100 feet, the airplane stalled and crashed near the boundary fence. The airplane was destroyed and the pilot was killed.
Crew:
Sgt Edmund Roy Baggott, pilot.
Probable cause:
It was found that a number of twigs were jammed in the starboard aileron and it was presumed that the airplane had probably struck a tree during the first attempt to land.

Crash of an Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley V at RAF Leeming: 5 killed

Date & Time: Mar 13, 1942 at 2325 LT
Operator:
Registration:
Z6975
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Site:
Schedule:
Leeming - Leeming
MSN:
2257
YOM:
1941
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Leeming at 1816LT on an operation to Boulogne. While returning to base in the late evening, it stalled on final approach and crashed onto a house. Four crew members were killed while the wireless operator was seriously injured. He later died from injuries sustained. There were no casualties on the ground.
Crew:
F/Sgt John Lyndon Moore, pilot,
Sgt James Ernest Church, copilot,
Sgt Kenneth Clarence Edward Corke, observer,
F/Sgt Richard James Lewis, wireless operator,
Sgt Neil Shaw Smith, air gunner.
Probable cause:
It is believed that icing conditions acting on the airframe may have given wrong airspeed readings and the pilot was unaware that the airplane was about to stall. Ice formations on the windscreen were also to blame which limited the pilot's visibility.

Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II at RAF Linton-on-Ouse

Date & Time: Mar 13, 1942 at 2305 LT
Operator:
Registration:
R9440
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Linton-on-Ouse - Linton-on-Ouse
Region:
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Linton-on-Ouse at 1914LT on an operation to Cologne. Following the failure of the starboard inner engine, the crew was unable to reach the target area and opted to attack Amsterdam instead. In the late evening, the crew returned to base but the airplane landed fast and was unable to stop within the remaining distance. It overshot the runway and came to rest. All seven crew members escaped uninjured and the airplane was damaged beyond repair.
Crew:
F/Sgt William Bruce Archibald, pilot,
Sgt Leslie John Nelmes, pilot,
Sgt Geoffrey Hillam Gurr Murray, navigator,
Sgt Samuel Palmer, flight engineer,
Sgt Archibald McCulloch McLaren, wireless operator,
Sgt James Frederick Staff, wireless operator,
Sgt Douglas Francis, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Failure of the starboard inner engine after takeoff.

Crash of a Bristol 142 Blenheim IVF at RAF Church Fenton

Date & Time: Mar 2, 1942
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
L8684
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Church Fenton - Church Fenton
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The pilot was engaged in a local solo training exercise at RAF Church Fenton. Upon landing, the undercarriage collapsed and the airplane came to rest and was damaged beyond repair. The pilot escaped unhurt.
Crew:
S/L Roger de Winton Kelsall Winlaw, pilot.
Probable cause:
The undercarriage collapsed upon landing.

Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II near Keld

Date & Time: Feb 16, 1942 at 2330 LT
Operator:
Registration:
L9619
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Leeming - Leeming
Region:
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Leeming at 1800LT on February 15 on an operation to Saint-Nazaire. Following an uneventful mission, the crew was returning to base when the airplane ran out of fuel. In poor weather conditions, the crew bailed out and abandoned the airplane that dove into the ground and crashed near Keld. All seven crew members were uninjured.
Crew (10th Squadron):
F/Sgt Eos Clwydfryn Lloyd, pilot,
P/O Laurence David Hillier, pilot
Sgt James Woods Thain, flight engineer,
Sgt F. P. Mapes, navigator,
F/Sgt William Norman Guertin, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt Mathias, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt R. L. Gifford, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Fuel exhaustion.

Crash of a Bristol 142 Blenheim I at RAF Church Fenton

Date & Time: Feb 14, 1942
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
K7044
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Church Fenton - Church Fenton
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The crew was completing a local training exercise at RAF Church Fenton when a tyre burst upon landing. The airplane went out of control, veered off runway, lost its undercarriage and came to a halt. Both crew members escaped uninjured.
Probable cause:
Loss of control upon landing after a tyre burst.