At 11.20hrs on 3rd February 1943 the crew of this Wellington set out on a navigation exercise from their base in the Midlands. Just over three hours into the flight the starboard engine began to develop problems and then caught fire in mid-air. The pilot could not maintain height so a force landing was attempted in a field near Skerry Hall Farm, Robin Hoods Bay at 14.30hrs. The crew of survived although four were injured and the aircraft sustained damage enough to deem it a write off.
Wellington BK184 was built to contract 124362/40 by Vickers Armstrongs Ltd at Chester and delivered to the RAF in September 1942 and issued to 25 OTU at Finningley shortly after acceptance. 25 OTU ceased operating on 7th January 1943 and all their aircraft were transferred to either 27 OTU or 30 OTU by 1st February 1943 when 25 OTU disbanded. The aircraft suffered damage serious enough for it to be written off in the incident detailed above, Cat.E2/FA damage being recorded.
Pilot - Sgt James King RAF (991044), uninjured.
Navigator - Sgt Payne RAF, injured.
Three others - Names unknown, injured.
At the time of this incident James King had 140 hours flying to his name with 50 hours being on the Wellington type. He completed his training and was commissioned on 23rd March 1944 as P/O on probation (service number being 173630 there-after). He rose to F/O (War Subs) on 23rd October 1944 and appears to have survived the War.
The names of the others are not known. Flight Magazine has a Sgt H C Payne as being wounded/injured in action in the 13th May 1943 edition, but perhaps too late after the incident for the two men to be the same man. Other crews who trained with 30 OTU typically trained at 30 OTU for two months then further conversion training with 1656 CU, before posting to an operational unit. One used around the period was 12 Squadron flying Lancasters.