Hampden P1152 on Westerdale Moor.

This Hampden came down on 16th November 1941 on Westerdale Moor after returning early from a mine laying operation in the Frisians due to icing conditions effecting the flying surfaces and the control of the aircraft. It was one of five Hampdens tasked and had taken off at 20.32hrs, on the return this aircraft drifted off course and probably crossed the English coastline much further north than planned. It flew into a hilltop at 02.00hrs less than a minute after a successful descent to locate its position. There is a report that the navigator had literally just worked out their position moments before the crash but had had no time to warn the pilot about the high ground they were flying towards. The area they may have flown over for their position to have been calculated could have been the Tees Estuary or the coastline near Whitby. The location where the aircraft came down is not 100% certain but it is thought to have been on Westerdale Moor and more precisely Stoney Ridge. One of the crew was killed in the crash and three suffered injuries of these, two were able to get their own way off the moor and seek help. They arrived at Hawthorn House some time later and were made comfortable and awaited rescue. The remains of the aircraft were probably taken down to the remains of the Rosedale railway and carted away via Blakey or Ingleby Incline (but speculation).

As stated the location of where the aircraft crash remains open. William Chorley quotes the location, in his Bomber Command Losses book, as on "Guisborough Moor, four miles south-east of Middlesbrough"; this position and distance cannot be correct as this would put it many miles off the Moorland area. The RAF's AM1180 Crash Card simply states "Guisborough" as the crash location which is again not entirely correct. More modern books quote "Westerdale Moor" as the crash location, where as the wireless operator's death certificate states it occured "west of Stoney Ridge, Baysdale Moor". The "Westerdale" Moor location is probably correct though being the "Moor above Westerdale" rather than the actual location on the map which is some way distant. I have searched a wide area of moorland in search of this crash site and to date have found nothing in the Stoney Ridge area. One puzzling addition is that I managed to speak to a local farmer who's father saw the crashed aircraft from outside his farmhouse in Baysdale. Had the Hampden crashed on Stoney Ridge then there is pretty much no chance of him spotting it as it is some three miles off. Although I am not keen on speculating on such things there is a chance that the plane came down alot closer to Baysdale and the term "Stoney Ridge" may have been incorrectly used. I would love to hear from anyone who can suggest a more detailed crash location for this aircraft to clear the matter.

Hampden P1152 was built to contract 773239/38 by Handley Page Ltd at Radlett and delivered to the RAF in July 1939. After acceptance it was issued to 44 Squadron at Waddington on an unspecified date. It was later transferred to 50 Squadron at Swinderby sometime after July 1941. It sustained Cat.E2/FB damage in the incident on 16th November 1941.

Pilot - Sgt William J Young RAFVR (778478), aged c22, of Fort Jameson, Northern Rhodesia. Injured.

Navigator - Sgt Donald M Symes RAFVR (1175877), aged c19, of Newton Abbott, Devon. Injured.

Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Alexander R Bernard RAFVR (1004002), aged c21, of Kelty, Scotland. Injured.

Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Ronald St.C Neale RAFVR (1375564), aged 27, of Lambeth, London. Buried Newark Cemetery, Nottinghamshire.

Sgt Neale and his gravestone at Newark Cemetery, Nottinghamshire. He was a member of the de Laune Cycling Club in Kent before enlisting in the RAFVR.

Whilst the crash location has yet to be found, or even a rough area for the crash fully determined, this photograph possibly shows the location: to the west of Stoney Ridge on Westerdale Moor. John Skinn and myself have searched for small remains but have yet to find anything.

Sgt Young cannot have been seriously injured in the crash detailed above as he was sadly killed less than a month later on 15th December 1941 when Hampden AE380 crashed into the sea off Belgium. He is buried at Ostend New Communal Cemetery after his body was washed ashore. He was twenty two years old. His crew were never found and are commemerated on the Runnymede Memorial.

Sgt Symes was still serving with 50 Squadron in early 1942 and was on board Hampden AT177 on 12th February 1942, the aircraft did not return and his body was never found, he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. He was only nineteen years old.

On the night of 10th / 11th January 1942 Sgt Bernard on board Hampden AE250 tasked with a mine laying flight, on the return to the UK the aircraft strayed off course on return to Skellingthorpe and they found themselved over the North-West of England. It was believed that the pilot was circling to try and find Crosby airfield although Crosby was not a completed airfield and had no landing lights. The aircraft lost height and crashed near Brampton. Research carried out by air historian Mr Gilbert Rothery in the 1980s found the first man on the scene, Mr Frank Easton, he stated that the aircraft first crashed onto Brampton cricket field, ran through a second field, across the Carlisle to Brampton road and into a field at the other side of the road and caught fire. Mr Easton and Mr Bill Armstrong, were first on the scene and located an airman inside the burning aircraft with his flying suit on fire. They pulled him clear and he was taken away to be treated but sadly died. They had initially believed him to have been the rear gunner. Since Mr Rothery's research much more information has been released by the RAF and MoD and in respect of this accident the rear gunner survived. I would therefore respectfully suggest that it was Sgt Bernard who must have been rescued from the burning aircraft as he was seriously injured and died the following day (12th January 1942). He is buried at Beath in Fifeshire and was twenty one years old. Mr Rothery suggests the aircraft had ran out of fuel. Looking at modern-day Brampton it would appear a by-pass has been created around the town and that the aircraft had crashed across Carlisle Road. A number of modern housing and business developments would appear to have been created over land likely to have been used as the cricket pitch nearer the town. I would welcome information from residents would are able to confirm or correct these assumptions on where the cricket field was in 1942.