The pilot of this Oxford was flying solo and was taking part in an Army Co-operation exercise on 23rd June 1942, flying with a ground unit in the Fylingdales area. The aircraft struck HT cables whilst flying low causing the aircraft to crash near Lockton at about 09.40hrs. The pilot was lucky and appears to have escaped uninjured. It was thought that if there had been someone else on board, acting as a safety pilot then the accident may not have happened. The location of the incident is not known by this researcher but there is a suggestion that it could have been near the top of Saltergate Bank, near the modern day Hole of Horcum car park. The aircraft was being used at Acaster Malbis although the Unit was officially based at Leconfield and used the Acaster site as a relief landing ground.
Pilot - P/O Reginald Arthur Adams RAF (120400). Uninjured.
I received an email in my early days of this research to suggest that this aircraft could well have slid over the edge of the Hole of Horcum, coming to rest in the trees near the bottom of the hill (shown in the photograph above). I have no written documentary evidence to actually back up this story however. The crash report states the damage to have been "Cat.B" which must surely not back this second story up, had the aircraft ploughed its was down the hillside then surely it would have been more badly damaged. A wartime map reference found in a Police list puts it on the flat ground SW of Saltersgate Inn. Staff at RAF Fylingdales are known to have refered to an unknown aircraft crash just outside their southern boundary, this may relate to the Oxford incident, or possibly the Hampden, known to have come down to the north of what is now Dalby Forest. As such I therefore have yet to locate the crash site of the Oxford. Given the report of it only suffering very minor damage the location near Saltergate Inn seems the most likely area.
"One night in October 1944, these officers and airmen took part in an operation involving a minelaying mission. Their task, which necessitated a high degree of skill and perfect co-ordination, was to detract the concentrated fire of the defences. Gun positions and searchlight defences were relentlessly attacked and a number of them put out of action. The results obtained reflect the greatest credit on the ability and resolution displayed by these officers and airmen, whose efforts contributed materially to the success of a hazardous mission."
Little is known about the pilot prior to him being commissioned in January 1942. having risen to F/Lt he was awarded the DFC with 515 Squadron (Gazetted 1st January 1944). 515 Squadron flew Mosquitoes at this stage in the War and were deployed in German radar jamming duties. The citation was a combined one with a number of other 515 Squadron personnel, it reads..
Oxford N6379 was built to contract 777546/38 by Airspeed at Portsmouth and delivered directly to 13 FTS at Drem on 29th July 1939. The unit became 13 SFTS on 3rd September 1939 then disbanded on 27th October 1939 when the aircraft was placed in MU storage. It was issued to 5 SFTS at Sealand on 19th April 1940, transferred to 3 SFTS at South Cerney on 31st July 1940 before being transferred to 15 SFTS at Brize Norton on 6th November 1941. This unit transferred to Leconfield in February 1942 and was re-designated
15(P)AFU on 1st March 1942. The aircraft appears to have suffered only minor in the above incident, possibly Cat.A/FA (although the Am1180 states Cat.B)
and it appears to have either been repaired on site or returned to unit for repair as it continued to serve with 15(P)AFU until being
transferred to MU storage on 9th September 1942. It was later issued to ATA HQ Flight at White Waltham on 7th November 1942 and served
with them until 25th August 1943 when the aircraft was moved once again to MU storage. It was then issued to Station Flight,
RAF Broadwell on 19th February 1944 and was transferred to Station Flight RAF Kemble on 4th June 1944. It was eventually struck off charge on
12th March 1945.