On the night of 8th / 9th June 1941 this 51 Squadron aircraft was flown on an operational flight to bomb Dortmund and took off from Dishforth at 22.40hrs. The raid was made up of 37 Whitleys and while they were tasked with bombing Dortmund returning crews later described visibility as poor due to an industrial haze over the target making locating any precise bombing targets difficult. There were no losses over Germany. This Whitley made it back across the North Sea but the weather was poor on this return leg of the flight so much so that other squadrons, on returning to Yorkshire, received orders to divert to other airfields. Some would subsequently see these diversion orders cancelled when the weather improved slightly. At 05.00hrs on 9th June 1941 this Whitley crashed into the hillside close to a disused quarry above Bank Foot, Ingleby Greenhow. It was thought that the crew became lost on their return and after flying around for some time they flew into the hillside flying in a west to east direction in more or less level flight. There were no survivors. An investigation suspected that the rear gunner had already died prior to the aircraft crashing. He was thrown out of the aircraft in the impact but his injuries were believed to have been sustained before the accident.
Whitley Z6663 was built to contract 106962/40 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd at Baginton and was awaiting collection on 15th April 1941. It was received by 23 MU on 11th April 1941 and was taken on charge by 51 Squadron at Dishforth on 7th May 1941. A Cat.E2/FB damage assessment was made as the result of this incident at Ingleby Greenhow and it was struck off charge on 13th June 1941.
Pilot - F/Sgt Gordon Stubbs RAFVR (754904), aged 21. Buried Hathersage Churchyard, Derbyshire.
Second Pilot - P/O James Raymond Pertwee RAFVR (60562), aged 24, of Oxhey, Hertfordshire. Buried Dishforth Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Observer - Sgt William Charles Goy Roper RAFVR (957053), aged 30. Buried Quarrington Churchyard, Lincolnshire.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Charles Frederick Ranson RAFVR (950534), aged 21. Buried Manor Park Cemetery, Essex.
Air Gunner - Sgt James Cousins RAF (534871), aged 24. Buried Dishforth Cemetery, Yorkshire.
The five headstones of crew who died as a result of this accident.
James Pertwee was born on 19th February 1917 possibly at Luton, Bedfordshire and was the son of James Francis Carter and Dulcie Adelina (nee Thompson) Pertwee. His mother appears to have been Brazilian and his father probably met her whilst working as a civil engineer in Rio de Janeiro. They travelled to South America at least once when he was a small child. He was the eldest of three brothers. He attended Hereford High School and also began a career as an engineer. His father died in 1938 and his mother later lived at Worthing, and at Pulborough, Sussex. When the 1939 Register was compiled James was living at Dartford, Kent. He enlisted for RAF service in July 1940 and was awarded his wings near the turn of the year. He received a commission to the rank of P/O on probation on 1st February 1941 but with seniority back to 23rd January 1941. His brother, William Desmond "Bill" Pertwee, became an actor and acheived fame for a number of television programs including Dad's Army.
William Roper was born on 12th April 1912 at Sleaford, Lincolnshire and was the son of John William and Harriet Annie (nee Field) Roper. He married Julie Selina Gray in Leicester in 1937 and left two young children. When the 1939 Register was compiled he was working as a clerical assistant at the RAF College Cranwell.
Gordon Stubbs was born on 29th November 1919 at Sheffield, South Yorkshire and was the son of John and Mary Hannah (nee Wilson) Stubbs. When the 1939 Register was compiled he living with his parents at Hathersage, Derbyshire and was working as a steelworks chemist but was also in the RAFVR at Doncaster.
Charles Ranson was born on 3rd April 1920 at Bethnal Green, London and was the son of Albert and Elizabeth (nee Blackett) Ranson. When the 1939 Register was compiled he was working as a commis waiter and living with his parents at Ilford, Essex.
James Cousins was born on 27th October 1917 in Lambeth, London and was the son of James and Josephine M (nee ?) Cousins. I can find no additional information on his family. He and his twin brother John were passed to foster parents Fredrick and Eliza Tooley at a young age and when the 1921 Census was created they were living with them, also in Lambeth. When James died in 1941 his mother is listed in the casualty file as living at Stoke Newington. His brother was serving in 32 Squadron at the time of James' death and his foster mother, Mrs E.L.Tooley, was at Amble, Northumblerland.
John Skinn and I located the crash site thanks to a very detailed description of the site given to me a reader of a local magazine who I contacted. A sizeable amount of wreckage remained at the site in woodland and is now protected by the Forestry Commission but much of the wreckage was in a poor condition when first found by us. It was clear that a fire had occurred when the aircraft had crashed and alot of molten alloy was found set in the ground and in depressions in rocks. Since then I have returned a number of times, the photograph above and shows the area where the aircraft crashed and the photograph below shows the crash site as it was in 2009.
One of a number of Whitley part numbers found at the site in 2009.
After correspondance with the Forestry Commission in 2009, and air historian Lee Norgate and I it was stated that the Forestry Commission intended on cutting the trees down the trees over the crash site. The Forestry Commission in North Yorkshire changed their policy to hand-fell trees over aircraft crash sites and try their best to protect the surface remains while doing so. John Skinn and myself re-visited the site in October 2010 to see the damage and what else may have come to light. Although the site looked a mess it would have been worse had the trees been felled using a machine. Some smaller remains of the aircraft were found in up-turned tree stumps including two .303 bullet cases in reasonable condition.
These two bullets are standard ball ammumition and were made at the Woolwich Arsenal.
A further Whitley part number with a typical "SP" prefix.