This Blenheim had set out from Catterick on the 20th of March 1940 for a night patrol off Whitby, whilst on this flight it may well have been attacked by an enemy aircraft, although this was never proven. The Blenheim was returning to Catterick when, at 02.25hrs, it crashed into "Cockayne Ridge" near Bransdale whilst flying in low cloud. The pilot may have broken cloud to either check that he was flying in correct direction for base or to locate his position possibly after being lost in the cloud. It was thought that he assumed he was over low ground when he was actually flying over hills rising to 1400 feet. Both airmen were killed instantly in the resulting crash and aircraft caught fire and burnt out. A search for the overdue aircraft was put into operation with the wreck being found in the late afternoon of the 21st of March completely written off. The inquest into the airmen's deaths was held on the 23rd of March 1940.
Blenheim L1117 was built to contract 527114/36 by The Bristol Aeroplane Co Ltd. at Filton. It was delivered to the RAF in February 1939 and issued on an unspecified date to 82 Squadron at Cranfield. 82 Squadron ceased operating Blenhiem MkI's on 25th August 1939 when the unit moved to Watton and the aircraft was transferred to 57 Squadron at Upper Heyford. On 24th September 1939 57 Squadron moved to France and the aircraft went to an MU before being issued to 219 Squadron on 4th October 1939 when the unit reformed at Catterick, the purpose being to operate Blenheim's as fighters to protect shipping. Whilst stating the obvious, it suffered Cat.W/FA in the crash detailed above.
Pilot - Sgt Horace (Duke) Philips RAF (562840), aged 27, of Barry, Wales. Buried Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire.
WOp/AG - AC1 Frank Prosser RAF (622364), aged 21, of Pontnewynydd, Wales. Buried Garndiffaith (St John's) Burial Ground, Monmouthshire, Wales.
Horace Phillips had joined the RAF as an Aircraft Apprentice at Halton in the late 1920's (the photograph on the left shows him as a sixteen year old in 1928), he later saw service in the Middle East and India (the photograph in the centre shows him in India in 1928), became a pilot in the late 1930's, gaining his Wings in October 1939, 5 months prior to this fatal crash. He had been married for only six months when he was killed. At the time of his death he had recorded a total of 69 hours on the Blenheim, with a further 190 hours on other aircraft types, 119 hours of these were in the last six months of his life. (The photograph on the right shows his headstone at Catterick Cemetery). (I express my thanks Sgt Phillips widow and her neice for allowing these photographs to be shown on this website and for the help they have given me regarding "Duke's" life).
AC1 Frank Prosser (Photo via Mr Ken Clark).
AC1 Prosser's grave in St John's Graveyard, Garndiffaith, Wales (Photo Mr Ken Clark). Frank Prosser lived and grew up in Talywain, Wales and prior to joining the RAF attended Pentwyn Council School, Abersychan and Twmpath School, Pontypool. After school he worked for a time for a grocer in Snatchwood before moving to work in Coventry. He joined the RAF in 1938 and was promoted soon after. Frank Prosser came from a family of military tradition, his father had served in the Boar War and his elder brother, Henry Prosser, had served in the Army for many years prior to the Second World War, having been recalled when war broke out. At AC1 Prosser's funeral service, Rev Brychan Lewis, pastor of Noddfa Baptist Church officiated, assisted by a Mr Clarence Martin. His coffin was draped in the Union Jack and the Last Post was sounded by Mr Cecil Roden of Pontnewynydd British Legion. Sadly for the Prosser family, Frank's elder brother Henry was killed in action in the Middle East later in the War, another brother died aged three in 1919 and is buried in the same grave.
A number of contempary sources wrongly quote a grid ref for this site to be infact where a Lancaster would crash some two years later higher up the moor. Also another Blenheim of the same production batch crashed in the same locality in 1941 and working out which is which is now very hard. The widely held belief is that L1117 crashed into fields alongside Badger Gill, Bransdale (shown in the photograph below), with small peices to be located in the stone wall to the left of the picture. The crash site is said to be where the reeds are to the centre of the photograph. This location was given by a local farmer so certainly something did crash here. The other known crash location of a Blenheim (previously believed to have been L1449) crashed further up stream and this incident is covered on its own webiste. I would perhaps, most respectfully, suggest that these two Blenheim sites have been mixed up and perhaps L1117 crashed up stream as the remaining peices are very bent and battered perhaps more indicitive of there being a fatal crash there rather than that of L1449 in which the pilot survived. The location shown in the photograph above is alot flatter and could therefore be in a better position for the pilot to have survived. Investigations are on-going and these assumptions could be wrong and I stand to be corrected.
Blenheim L1117 is known to have burnt out after crashing where as L1449 did not. From investigating other sites it is usual for the area of the fire still to show the effects even 70 years after the event. This field almost certainly has never been ploughed, and other similar sites all show signs of the fire with at least a small dead, bare patch. There is none in the field which suggests that if an aircraft crashed here then no major fire occured.
General overview of where the aircraft is thought to have crashed.
Small peices of a Blenheim, previously thought to be this one, L1117.
Since creating this website I have been fortunate to have been contacted by Mrs S Knock in 2006, the neice of Sgt Phillips, I wish to thank her for the information she has been able to give me and I understand Sgt Phillips widow was living at the time and I hope that this webpage in someway keeps his memory alive. She never remarried.
I also wish to thank Mr Ken Clark for following up an email to him, for photographing AC1 Prosser's gravestone and for searching for his obituary for me and without which the information shown on him would be very brief.