Whitley Z6491 near Kepwick Hall.

A Whitley made a forced landing near Kepwick Hall on the 9th July 1941 at 05.25hrs whilst returning from Ops to Hamm after running out of fuel. The five crew members were uninjured and the aircraft was removed and repaired. The location of where this occured has yet to be determined but there is a suggestion it was on the moor behind Kepwick Hall although larger fields near the Hall could also have been used. No witnesses have yet been found to clarify this location. I have yet to locate where this aircraft force-landed near Kepwick.

Whitley Z6491 was built to contract 106912/40 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd at Baginton and delivered to the RAF in January 1941. After acceptance it was issued to 78 Squadron at Disforth in February 1941. The aircraft moved with the unit to Middleton St.George on 7th April 1941. In the above incident it sustained Cat.B/FB damage and it was dismantled and removed from the site by road to be repaired in works. It was later issued to 24 OTU at Honeybourne when the unit formed on 15th March 1942 and then on as yet unpsecified dates had spells with 10 OTU at Abingdon, 24 OTU at Honeybourne, again and finally 19 OTU at Kinloss. It was written off with Cat.E2/FA damage on 4th October 1944 when it suffered an engine failure on take off for a training flight, the pilot was forced to make a crash landing at Forres.

Pilot - Sgt Bernard T McC Jones RAAF (400090), uninjured.

Second Pilot - Sgt Vivian John "Jack" Moorfoot RAF (1051804), uninjured.

Observer - Sgt Smythe, uninjured.

Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Beaton, uninjured.

Air Gunner - Sgt Jones, uninjured.

Bernard Jones RAAF was born on 29th September 1918 in St Kilda, Victoria, he enlisted in Melbourne 27th May 1940. He was still with 78 Squadron on 7th September 1941 when Whitley Z6864 which he was flying crashed near Markington, Ripon. He and his crew were uninjured on this occasion. Small remains were located air historians Dick Barton, Albert Pritchard and Ken Reast in the late 1990s at the Markington site. F/Lt Jones survived the War and was discharged on 28th September 1945.
Jack Moorfoot was born on 12th May 1920 in Glanford, Norfolk. He joined 78 Squadron on 6th July 1941 and on 17th August 1941 he was the captain of Whitley Z6495 which landed at Middleton St.George's Q-site by mistake slightly damaging the aircraft. The location of this site is not yet known but may be inside Yorkshire and therefore should be included on my main Yorkshire related incidents. On completing a Tour with 78 Squadron he was posted to Driffield as an instructor on the BAT Flight in February 1942. He was later commissioned on 18th December 1941 (114923) and Mentioned in Despatches on 14th January 1944 as F/Lt. He survived the War.