On the 13th of April 1942 the crew of this Beaufighter were undertaking a local flying exercise, the pilot had taken off from Catfoss and was ordered to keep the airfield in site. The crew became lost after flying north of the airfield when they flew into low cloud. Whilst flying level the aircraft struck a hillside at 18.25hrs north of Cloughton. It was not known why the pilot had continued the flight when they encountered bad weather, he should have landed when the visiblity became bad. The aircraft burnt out on impact. Police reports credit the two bodies being recovered from the machine. The Crash Card AM1180 credits only one airman being on this aircraft at the time of the crash; I believe this to be an error. The pilot had only 22 hours flying time on the Beaufighter at the time of the crash. The wreckage was apparently cleared from the surface by a party of Army trainees stationed nearby.

The aircraft was built to contract B41906/39 by Fairey at Heaton Chapel, Stockport and delivered to the RAF in May 1941. After acceptance it was issued to 2 (C)OTU at Catfoss in June 1941 when the unit began converting from Blenheims to Beaufighters. It was transferred to 236 Squadron at Carew Cheriton when this unit began operating Beaufighters in October 1941. It then transferred back to 2 (C)OTU in February 1942 when 236 Squadron ceased operating Beaufighters. It was written off with Cat E2/FA Burnt damage recorded in the incident detailed above.

Pilot - Sgt William Bray RAFVR (1075896), aged 21, of Greetland, Yorkshire. Buried St Thomas's Churchyard, Greetland, Yorkshire.

Wireless Op / Observer - Sgt Arthur Broadbent RAFVR (1050128), aged 25, of Halifax, Yorkshire. Buried Brandesburton, Yorkshire.

Sgt Broadbent's gravestone at Brandsburton.