At 05.00hrs on 9th June 1941 a Whitley crashed into the hillside close to a disused quarry above Bank Foot, Ingleby Greenhow whilst returning from an operational flight to bomb Dortmund. There were no survivors. The aircraft had taken off from Dishforth at 22.40hrs the previous night and made up a flight of 37 Whitleys, they were tasked with bombing Dortmund but bombing was described as poor due to an industrial haze over the target making locating any precise bombing targets difficult. There were no losses over Germany. On this night the weather over North Yorkshire was poor with bad visibility and other squadrons returning to Yorkshire received diversion orders, some were later cancelled when the weather improved slightly. It is thought that the crew of this aircraft 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 but it was thought 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 in Yorkshire.
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. It suffered Cat.E2/FB damage as a result of the incident at Ingleby Greenhow and was struck off charge on 13th June 1941.
Pilot - F/Sgt Gordon Stubbs RAFVR (754904), aged 21, of Hathersage. 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, of Leicester. Buried Quarrington Churchyard, Lincolnshire.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Charles Frederick Ranson RAFVR (950534), aged 21, of Ilford. Buried Manor Park Cemetery, Essex.
Rear Gunner - Sgt James Cousins RAF (534871), aged 24, of Stoke Newington, London. Buried Dishforth Cemetery, Yorkshire.
The five headstones of crew who died as a result of this accident.
P/O James Pertwee was the brother of John Pertwee who became an actor and acheived fame for a number of television programs including Dad's Army.
James Pertwee received a commission to the rank of P/O on probation on 1st February 1941 but with seniority back to 23rd January 1941. It is not
yet known whether he had risen through the NCO ranks or whether he trained at Cranwell and came in as an officer.
William Roper married Julie Selina Gray in Leicester in 1937 and left two young children.
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 now have a policy on hand-felling 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 now looks 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.
