On 12th February 1943 the crew of this 427 Squadron Wellington, "A for Apple", took off from Croft airfield at 17.26hrs for what is believed to have been a mine laying operational flight. Aircraft from various squadrons were mine laying the waters around The Frisians and Heligoland on this night. More modern accounts quote Le Havre as being a land target for bombs but this is believed to not be correct given the mine laying task is listed in the squadron records. The accident record card for this incident; the Form Am1180, makes no mention of what the target was hence the confusion. The crew dropped their cargo and headed for home but were hit by flak. Before they could land at base the aircraft flew across the North Yorkshire Moors, the Moors were covered in a thick band of cloud at the time and the crew had probably become uncertain of their position on their return to Yorkshire; they had probably flown off course by a few degrees. It was thought that they had descended to try and work out their location but struck high ground east of Chop Gate on Black Intake Moor at 23.00hrs. All on the aircraft lost their lives in the crash which completely destroyed the aircraft.
A lot of the wreckage appears to have been left on the site following the crash and this included both engines and fairly complete outer-wing sections. It is known that a now defunct Thornaby aircraft museum had one of the engines (the same engine is now at the small museum on the former Catfoss airfield), the whereabouts of the other engine is unknown. Various smaller pieces of aircraft I learn were used to patch holes in old dry stone walls near the site in the years after the War, whether any of the aircraft is still in these walls is yet to be discovered. This crash site was one of the most widely known about and visited sites in the 1960s and 70s, because of this people seem to have been helping themselves to bits over the years. Lots more must have been taken away and removed from the area and probably scrapped.
Wellington BJ778 was built to contract 124362/40 by Vickers Armstrongs Ltd at Chester and was issued directly to 419 Squadron at Mildenhall on 1st August 1942. It was used operationally for the first time by 419 Squadron on 5th August 1942 and then again the following day. 419 Squadron moved to Leeming on 12th August 1942. It was then used operationally on 18th August 1942. The aircraft suffered some battle damage on 6th September 1942 while on an operational flight to Duisburg. The squadron records do not list any incident but the aircraft's AM78 lists Cat.A(c)/FB damage being sustained. Repairs commenced on 10th September 1942. 419 Squadron moved to Croft on 30th September 1942 and the aircraft remained at Leeming whilst these repairs were carried out by civilian contractors. It was returned to 419 Squadron at Croft on 3rd October 1942. It was then used operationally by 419 Squadron on 13th October, 15th October, 23rd October and then on 31st October 1942. 419 Squadron began their conversion from Wellingtons to Halifaxes early in November 1942. 427 Squadron formed on 7th November 1942 at Croft and took on charge eighteen 419 Squadron Wellingtons. On 9th November 1942 419 Squadron left Croft for Middleton St.George. Wellington BJ778 was one of these aircraft that were transferred between squadrons at this point. Again the AM Form 78 states that it suffered a minor Cat.A(c)/FA damage on 5th December 1942. The squadron records do not mention any incident but on this date it was an extremely windy and cold day, two aircraft were detailed for mine laying flights but they were later cancelled. The damage was repaired on site by civilian contractors and was returned to 427 Squadron on 9th January 1943. The only operational flight 427 Squadron used the aircraft on was the one when it crashed on the night of 12th February 1943. After the crash on 12th February 1943 Cat.E2/FB(Burnt) damage was the damage assessment and it was struck off charge on 20th February 1943.
Pilot - Sgt Oscar Philip Edwin Ronald J Adlam RAF (655624), aged 26. Buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Navigator - F/O Bryan Dunn RAFVR (126469), aged 22. Buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt William Charles Ivor Jelley RAFVR (1287313), aged 31. Buried Northwood Cemetery, Middlesex.
Air Bomber - Sgt Arnold Charles Clifford RAFVR (1338085), aged 20. Cremated Bristol Arnos Vale, Gloucestershire.
Rear Gunner - Sgt William Ball RAFVR (971137), aged 22. Buried Crossens Churchyard, Southport, Lancashire.
Sgt Adlam and F/O Dunn's gravestones at Thornaby on Tees Cemetery. Photo credit to me, Rich Allenby.
Oscar Adlam's birth was registered in Bristol in mid-1915 so was almost certainly 27 when he died (not 26 as listed on the CWGC database). He married Eileen Margaret Kirkup in between October and December 1941 in Cambridge and they had a baby son, John G R Adlam born in early 1942 with his birth registered in Peterborough. His widow may well have re-married in 1949 and had another son in 1955.
Bryan Dunn received a commission to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) on 28th July 1942 and rose to F/O on probation (war subs) on 28th January 1943. He had flown with 431 Squadron before posting to 427 Squadron on 1st December 1942.
The top photograph was found in my late grandfather's collection of photographs of the North Yorkshire Moors and shows the site as it was just after the War, my grandfather (with the cap) visited the site with Mr B. Bates and Mr Raymond Hayes MBE in the late 1940's / early 1950's. The colour photograph above shows me in the same location sixty years after the crash. Black and white photograph credit in both cases to Mr. George William Allenby, via Rich Allenby. Colour photograph credit to me, Rich Allenby.
The black and white photograph above shows Mr B. Bates and one of the Hercules engines at the site when my grandfather visited the site after the War. The colour photograph shows the same location sixty years after the crash. I first visited the crash site in July 2002; following in the footsteps of my grandfather. Not much remains on the surface at the site today. The engines and, for that matter, the majority of the wreckage is long gone. This is the reason for my interest in aviation crash research, having found these photographs in a family photograph album I wanted to know about their history. This engine was recovered by the York Aircraft Preservation Society during the Summer of 1972 and taken to one of the member's gardens.
The site as it was on New Years Day 2003. (Photo Rich Allenby).
The site as it looked on New Years Eve 1972 (Photo Mr Graham Sharpe).
An exhaust collector ring found at the site in December 1972 (Photo Mr Graham Sharpe).
More parts of the aircraft found in December 1972, Mr Sharpe's caption explains what they are in more detail (Photo Mr Graham Sharpe). Thanks to Mr Graham Sharpe for the photographs shown above taken from his collection.
Part of one of the aircraft wings which was present at the site years ago, this may have been recovered by Mr Brian Rapier's York based group for inclusion in the museum in the 1970s.