On 6th November 1942 this aircraft took off from Linton on Ouse at 18.20hrs with it's crew tasked with a mine laying flight in the Nectarine region, to the north of the Frisian Islands. Sixty seven other aircraft were to lay mines in a wide area from Lorient to the Frisian's. On board this aircraft was pretty much a scratch crew, four regular crew flew with three others not usually in this settled crew. They dropped their mines in the area as instructed and made for home. On the return leg they drifted slightly too far south and came in over the coast in the Hull area. With visibilty poor they became lost and flew into high ground above Wass village on the southern edge of the North Yorkshire Moors, on Byland Moor at 22.30hrs. There are two given reasons for the crash occuring other modern publications, the first is the most widely quoted and is probably the correct reason and also the cause as stated on the AM1180 crash report - the pilot descended through cloud to enable the navigator gain a position but the aircraft hit high ground. This was common practice although forbidden but many many losses occured for the same reason. The other reason for this loss blames rudder over-balance, a common problem with early Halifax's, but there is no mention of this on the crash report. The only reference to this rudder over-balance is in the book "The Pendulum and The Scythe" by Ken Marshall. Had the rudder over-balance problem occured it was usually for aircraft to fall out of the sky in a dive, where-as DT525 flew into the rising ground while flying level and appears to have been under control at the time.
Halifax DT525 crashed into a field and then ran into trees not far from Lund Farm in poor weather. Three of the crew were killed in the crash. After a period of time the surviving members were found trying to shelter at the crash site, they were taken down to the nearest farm, Lunds Farm, and later to York Military Hospital to be treated. The pilot was reasonable lucky, he escaped with minor injuries. The bomb aimer was thrown out and into some trees nearby, in his fall he broke his leg and he suffered cuts to his face and hands. The wireless operator broke both his legs and a hand and was hospitalised, he never flew again in the War returning to Canada when his legs had healed. The pilot would soon return to flying duties and completed his Tour. The bomb aimer spent some time in hospital but returned to flying duties in time to complete his first Tour when the pilot of DT525 did his final flight of his Tour and joined him on this flight.
Halifax DT525 was built to contract B982938/39 by English Electric at their Salmesbury factory and was delivered directly to 78 Squadron on 26th September 1942. It was written off following the incident detailed above with Cat.E2/FB(Burnt) damage being recorded after inspection.
Those who lost their lives were :
Navigator - F/O Harry Lancaster Humphries RCAF (J/9527), aged 29, of Indian River, Ontario, Canada. Buried Newton on Ouse Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Air Gunner - Sgt Charles Frederick "Bobby" Clark RAFVR (1395017), aged 21, of Charlton, London. Buried Newton on Ouse Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Rear Gunner - F/Lt George Thomas Turner RAFVR (109520), aged 22, of Reading. Buried Henley Road Cemetery, Reading, Berkshire.
Those who survived were:
Pilot - "Sgt R J Mills RCAF (R/83215)". Injured.
Flight Engineer - Sgt Robert Grey RAF (534199), of Ashington, Northumberland. Injured.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Lloyd G Masterson RCAF, of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Injured.
Bomb Aimer - Sgt C M "Ray" Edgehill RAF (1173753). Injured.
F/Lt George Turner, the photograph was taken at his wedding but further details regarding his bride and the other servicemen in the photograph are not yet known. My thanks to Mr Ken Burgess, cousin of George Turner, for allowing this photograph to appear here. George (Georgie) Turner was the Squadron Gunnery Officer at the time of this accident. On this flight he had volunteered to act as rear gunner. He was born in West Ham at the Custom House and was the eldest son of George Thomas Turner Senior and Lilian Turner (nee Scurr). His family were evacuated to Reading during the war and those who survived settled there afterwards. His NCO service number was 746895 and he received his commission to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) on 11th October 1941 from the rank of F/Sgt. He was later promoted to F/O on 14th August 1942. The photograph of his gravestone was found on an internet forum posted by "Clive".
Gravestones of Sgt Clark and F/O Humphries at Newton on Ouse churchyard and a small memorial inside the church, but housed behind glass. Little is known about either men as yet other than Harry Humphries was born on 20th April 1913 and was the son of James and Margaret Humphries, of Indian River, Ontario, Canada.
Weeks before this accident on 15th October 1942 Sgt Masterson survived had the crash landing of Halifax BB239 at Linton on Ouse airfield after the crew had turned back from Ops to Cologne. The crew escaped injury but the aircraft was later deemed beyond repair and written off. This incident is recorded on the main "Yorkshire" section to this website. Through contact with Sgt Lloyd Masterson's daughter I learn that the incident on Byland Moor occured on his next operational flight, I thank her for the additional information and the photograph of her father she has kindly supplied to this account.
The exact identity of the pilot is not confirmed, the RAF's crash card; the Form AM1180 gives his name as Sgt R J Mills. The book refered to in the main text above names him as "Jackie" Mills and there was a Jacques George Mills who was a pilot in 1943 with 78 Squadron who may be our man, I link both R.J. and J.G. Mills' details on this page below until his correct identity can be confirmed.
Jackie Mills was born in Washington, USA but was living in either Montreal or Verdun, Canada when he enlisted in Halifax in March 1941. After training he was posted to the UK and eventually to 78 Squadron. He recovered from his injuries sustained in the incident near Wass as detailed above and returned to active service with 78 Squadron, he was later commissioned and completed his Tour with the squadron. For this service he was awarded the DFC, Gazetted on 10th September 1943 though he was not presented with it until November 1950 in Canada. Hugh Halliday's RCAF awards research has located the citation for his DFC which reads.."Flight Lieutenant Mills has always shown great determination and enthusiasm for his work and has pressed home his attacks against some of the most heavily defended European targets with the utmost zeal. As captain of aircraft he has shown fine qualities of leadership and a total disregard of danger." He served as an instructor at 1652 HCU though nothing more of his service is known. Post-Ww2 he was awarded the French Croix de Guerre, the citation for this reads.. "This officer has taken part in more than 50 operational flights. He has, at all times, proved himself to possess great determination and, as commander of a section of four aircraft, he has set a fine example and achieved excellent results."
Acting F/Lt Robert Grey (50952) was sadly killed on the 13th May 1943 and was still serving with 78 Squadron. He was on board Halifax JB924 which was shot down by a night-fighter over Holland on Ops to Bochum. He is buried at Barradeel, Netherlands and was twenty five years old. At the time of his death he was the Squadron's Flight Engineer Officer. His commission was on 19th January 1943 when he was made a P/O on probation (emergency).
Sgt Edgehill flying career requires further research. On the night of 6th / 7th September 1943 he was flying in Halifax JD454 on Ops to Munich when the aircraft was shot down. He and one other escaped the aircraft but the remaining five airmen in the aircraft were killed. He saw the war out as a PoW. Someone of the same initials and surname was injured while training with 19 OTU at Kinloss while flying in Whitley N1498 which crashed near Tomatin, Inverness on 6th January 1942 killing a number of the crew. Sgt Edgehill sustained serious injuries but recovered and completed his training. Much of what remained of N1498 was recovered by the Midland Aircraft Recovery Group in 2003.
Halifax DT525 flew into the ground close to the group of trees shown in the photograph shown above and the main bulk of the aircraft is reported as travelling through these trees. Over the years small fragments have been found within a twenty metre radius of the trees. I visited the site in June 2004 with guidance from air historians Howard Newbould and Dick Barton.
The general area of where the aircraft crashed.
Small remains gathered up and placed amongst tree roots.