During the afternoon of Saturday, 13th November 1943 the crews of three Warwick aircraft belonging to 280 Squadron had taken off from Thornaby at 16.40hrs to undertake an Air-Sea Rescue flight to search an area off the Dutch coast. Their search was possibly to attempt to locate the missing 102 Squadron Halifax HX158 that had failed to return from a mining operational flight the previous day. No trace of Halifax HX158 or its crew was ever found although it was known that it had been fired upon by a flak ship in an area around the Frisian Islands. The search by the crews of the three Warwicks was unsuccessful and they were making their way back towards Thornaby by 19.00hrs. The weather in the Whitby area was very poor, low cloud was covering the area and combined with heavy rain and thunder and lightning was reported in the area. This Warwick was struck by lightning which damaged the wireless equipment and possibly damaged the aircraft. Icing effects on the aircraft's control surface was also thought to have effected control. Control was lost and it dived into the ground on Sleights Moor at around 19.00hrs and sadly all on board were killed. A medical officer and other personnel from Wombleton airfield were dispatched to the crash site that evening and along with members of a local army unit they carried out an initial search for survivors. One body was soon located and initially mis-identified to be S/Ldr Good, then later correctly identified as WO Richardson. With there being little Wombleton's crash tender and ambulance crews could do they returned to base. The site was then guarded overnight by members of the army unit; 52 Anti-Aircraft Signal Training Regiment who also later assisted in looking for ammunition at the site and with the recovery of the bodies of the crew with the search being handed over to personnel from Thornaby airfield. One of the other Warwick aircraft flying with this aircraft may also have been struck by lightning but the pilot managed to pull the aircraft out of a dive before a crash and it returned to base to land safely. This loss near Whitby was only one of a very small number of fatal Warwick crashes in the entire war. The aircrew undertook a vital role and all ASR casualties gave their lives in trying to rescue others.
Here follows a difficult aspect of this incident that needs to be recorded and researched. In May 1948 the site was being visited by a local man when he discovered human remains which he left at the site. He notified the local police and over the next few days Whitby police visited the site twice where they located and removed a number of bones. These were taken to a doctor in Whitby who identified these remains as being from not less than two individuals. An inquest was then held. What then happened to these human remains is unclear. I feel it is unlikely that the were identified and buried in the known graves of the crew but what happened to them and where were they buried? I would guess that Whitby Police disposed of them; one would hope in the local Whitby Cemetery. I have contacted the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for information but they have yet to respond.
Warwick BV336 was built to contract CA/a/c/494 by Vickers Armstrongs Ltd at Weybridge and was delivered into MU storage in February 1943 where it remained until being issued to 280 Squadron at Thornaby on 20th October 1943 when the unit moved in from Thorney Island and converted from flying Ansons. It was destroyed in the incident detailed above with Cat.E2/FA(Burnt) damage being recorded on the paperwork. I have been reasonably successful in locating or being sent photographs of four members of this crew but would welcome additions to any of the biographies shown below or additional photographs of any of the crew. The crew of Warwick BV336 when it crashed on Sleights Moor were as follows..
Pilot - S/Ldr Edgar Andrew Good RCAF (C/18640), aged 29, of Valois, Quebec, Canada. Buried St Martin's Churchyard, Houghton Hall, Norfolk.
Navigator - F/O Willis Wylie Coons RCAF (J/17250), aged 21, of Collins Bay, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/O Dennis Maurice Stewart RAFVR (115344), aged 29, of Branksome Park, Bournemouth, Hampshire. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - WO2 William Vernon Crockett RCAF (R/98771), aged 21, of Ridgedale, Saskatchewan, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - WO2 Douglas Allan Payton RCAF (R/105266), aged 23, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Air Gunner - WO Henry George Richardson RAFVR (1377980), aged 33, of Southborough, Tunbridge Wells. Buried Tunbridge Wells Cemetery, Kent.
Edgar Good was born on 2nd December 1914 at Petrograd (now St.Petersburg), Russia and was the son of Nickolai Andreyev and Ninotchka "Nina" Andreyevna (formerly Ivanov). His father died in 1917, possibly as a consequence of the Bolshevik Revolution. His mother would later marry Joseph Good. Joseph was born in 1890 in Kovno, Russia (now known as Kaunas, Lithuania) of British parents and had served during the war under Commander Oliver Locker-Lampson. The Good / Locker-Lampson relationship must have been at a reasonably high level as Locker-Lampson gave Edgar Good a reference when he applied to join the RAF. I speculate that the Russian Revolution and then Russian Civil War caused problems for British nationals in Russia and the Good family left. Joseph, Nina and Edgar Good emigrated from Russia to Canada in 1920 and they became naturalised Canadians in 1922. The family lived in the Valois area of Montreal, Quebec. Joseph Good worked as an interpretor and later an inspector with Canadian Immigration. Young Edgar went to school at Saint George's, Quebec and the Commissioners' High School, Quebec. He then studied engineering for a year at Dalhousie University, Halifax from 1932-33 and then spent part of a year studying engineering at McGill University, Montreal 1933-34. I credit "www.mcgill.ca" with the photograph of him shown above. He then took up a role in the drafting office of Noorduyn Aircraft Ltd from 1934-36 during which he undertook technical drafting courses at college in Chicago, USA.
On 22nd April 1936 he applied for a Short Service Commission in the RAF, having received a provisional acceptance for pilot training he sailed from Canada on board the S.S. Makefjell on 10th August 1936 arriving in the UK by the end of the month. Between October and December 1936 he undertook a preliminary flying training course at a civilian flying school and having passed this course he was granted a Short Service Commission in the RAF (39313) on 21st December 1943 (with effect of 12th October 1936) under the rank of Acting Pilot Officer on Probation. He then received RAF pilot training and was awarded his pilots' wings on 19th April 1937. He was posted to 206 Squadron at Bircham Newton on 7th August 1937 and remained with this unit for the next couple of years undertaking maritime patrol work flying Ansons, leaving for brief period of detached training on occasions. During his time with 206 Squadron he appears to have been used to ferry aircraft out from the UK to the Middle East. He was confirmed in the rank of P/O on 12th October 1937 and was promoted to F/O on 12th July 1939. In July 1939 he was posted out to Seletar, Singapore and then to join 273 Squadron on its formation in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). 273 Squadron set up what was then the first RAF base on the island at China Bay and flew Vildebeest, Fulmar and Hurricane aircraft during his time with the squadron. They were mainly involved in maritime patrols. He was promoted to F/Lt (war Subs) on 3rd December 1940. While in Ceylon he met Elaine Blair Gibson, she was the daughter of Roy Blair and Dora Helen (nee Fletcher) Gibson, the couple later married on 30th March 1941 in Colombo, Ceylon. Between July and September 1941 he was involved in training Ceylon air cadets who were in the process of being sent to join the RAF in England. From December 1941 to May 1942 he was attached to 788 FAA Squadronn; first as a senior pilot and then serving as their Commanding Officer. He was promoted to the rank of Acting S/Ldr 27th July 1942 and was with 788 Squadron until August 1942 serving at Koggala flying Air Sea Rescue and Security Patrol flights in Swordfish aircraft. From August until December 1942 he served in the Operations Room of No.222 Group in Colombo. At one point he ferried / delivered an aircraft from Ceylon to Iraq where it was later to be used by the King of Iraq. Under the terms of his Short Service Commission in the RAF he was transferred to the Reserve of Air Force Officers on 12th October 1942 and was retained on the Active List. By this date he was unhappy about the position he was left in, from information in his service file he was clearly becoming frustrated about being in the RAF and that being a Canadian he wanted to serve in the RCAF in Canada. Other Canadians in the RAF had managed to request transfer to the RCAF but his requests were being ignored. In fairness I would suggest he was an important officer in the RAF's position in Ceylon at the time who could not easily be replaced. On 12th October 1942 he handed in a request to his commanding officer for a transfer to the RCAF and to be posted back to Canada. While the request to transfer was refused his request to move was acted upon and while he did not return to Canada he was posted back to the UK, leaving Ceylon in December 1942. On 1st January 1943 he was promoted to Temporary S/Ldr (with seniority of 1st March 1942). It appears that while he was granted a move this came with the caveat that he remained an operational airman within Coastal Command. He was then posted to 1 (C)OTU at Thornaby to convert to fly twin engined Hudsons. With conversion complete he was posted to 280 Squadron. 280 Squadron were based at Bircham Newton where, ironically, he had been based before the war. His wife followed him back to the UK around the same time as he returned, she initially lived at East Grinstead, Sussex before moving to a cottage with Houghton Park, Kings Lynn (very near Bircham Newton). 280 Squadron briefly moved to Thorney Island in September and October 1943 before moving to Thornaby and changing their aircraft for Vickers Warwicks. Edgar Good was finally successful in receiving a transfer to the RCAF, he relinquished his commission in the RAF on appointment to a commission in the RCAF on 12th October 1943. On 28th October 1943 Edgar's wife Elaine gave birth to their baby son, John, just sixteen days before his death near Sleights. At the time of his death he had flown a huge 1187 hours solo in aircraft. Edgar's funeral was held at Bircham Toft on 18th November 1943 and he was buried in the churchyard within the Houghton Hall estate in Norfolk. Elaine Good remained in the UK until the end of the war but then returned to Ceylon with her son. They later emigrated to Adelaide, Australia in 1946 where she married vinyard owner and wine producer Henry Maydwell Martin on 18th July 1947.
William Crockett was born on 15th July 1922 in Lafleche, Saskatchewan, Canada. He was the son of Louis Melbourne Crockett (born Carleton Point, Prince Edward Island) and Flora Berry Crockett (nee McConnell) (born Sheldon, North Dakota, USA). His mother passed away while he was young. While he was born in Lafleche he went to Ridgedale with his father who was listed as being a grain buyer in 1933. He had left Ridgedale High School in 1940 and on his RCAF attestation papers (in August 1940) he stated that he was unemployed, but also a student. He enlisted for RCAF service on 23rd April 1941 in Saskatoon. He initially undertook pilot training but failed the course at 2 EFTS so he later re-trained as a wireless operator / air gunner finishing second in class. He was awarded his air gunner's Wings on 17th August 1942. He arrived in the UK in January 1943. In March 1943 he trained at 1 (C)OTU from 24th March 1943 before posting to 280 Squadron on 1st July 1943. His father was living in Nipawin, Saskatchewan when CWGC compiled their records after the war.
Douglas Payton was born on 11th May 1920 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and was the son of Walter James and Edith (nee Miller) Payton, he was known as Allan to everyone who knew him. He attended the Riverdale Collegiate (High School) in Toronto until 1939 and had then worked as a clerk and packer in a food factory in Toronto for a year until he enlisted for RCAF service. After enlisting on 26th May 1941 in Toronto he underwent basic training in Canada and received his air gunner's badge on 6th July 1942. Between July 1942 and December 1942 he continued training in Canada and was the posted to the UK, arriving in mid-January 1943. He then trained at No.11 Radio School and was eventually posted to 1 (C)OTU at Thornaby on 24th March 1943. He was posted to 480 Squadron on 1st July 1943. Following his death he left two sisters. I thank his nephew Mr James Hall for contacting me in November 2012 and for photographs and the additional information he was able to provide this account.
The RCAF silver Memorial Cross presented to his mother after his death, such crosses were given to mothers and widows following the death of a Canadian on active service. The other photograph shows Allan Payton on the left but the person on the right has yet to be identified.
Harry Richardson was the youngest of three sons born to Edward and Alice Richardson. He was married to Flora (but who was known as "Lil") and were married for a year when he was killed. My thanks to Mr James Hall for forwarding the photographs shown here relating to Harry Richardson which come from his Harry Richardson's niece Shirley Neve, daughter of Harry's youngest sister.
Willis Coons was born on 29th December 1921 in Brinston, Ontario to Willis Wylie Coons (Snr) and Essie (nee Pitt) and was one of three brothers. Sadly his father had infact died three months before he was born and hence he was probably named after his late father. His mother would later marry and have another son. He enlisted into the RCAF in Ottawa on 16th June 1941 and at that date both his older brothers were serving officers in the RCAF, when he enlisted into the RCAF he had previous been serving as an instructor in the Canadian Army from 5th September 1940 until enlistment. After training as a navigator in Canada he was posted to the RAF Ferry Command on 9th October 1942 with the aim of flying aircraft from Canada over the Atlantic to the UK. The aircraft he flew across in is not yet know but this flight was begun on 5th December and completed on 6th December 1942 when he landed at Linton on Ouse. I would guess that it was a newly built Canadian Lancaster. On arrival in the UK he was posted to 1 (C)OTU on 23rd March 1943 and then on to 280 Squadron on 1st July 1943 who were then at Bircham Newton. He remained with the squadron during their moved to Thorney Isle and then to Thornaby later in the year. He received a commission to the rank of P/O on 7th April 1943 and probably rose to F/O six months later. He is commemorated on a stained glass window at Lakeshore Drive United Church in Morrisburg, Ontario and his mother Essie Applett was living in Morrisburg, Ontario when he died in November 1943. One of his brothers Herbert Coons was awarded the DFC and Bar to the DFC for his RCAF service.
Dennis Stewart received a commission to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) on 30th December 1941 and rose to F/O on probation (war subs) on 1st October 1942. He is commemorated on Chipenham's War Memorial in Wiltshire, his mother came from the town and moved back there after her husband died in 1942.
At the crash site of Warwick BV336 not much remains today apart from three craters that are left in the ground, two of these craters were made by the engines and one in the centre was where the main fuselage impacted and must have been caused by a near vertical impact. I first visited the site in October 2003 and found a few pieces of the aircraft around the craters which included a lot of small pieces of perspex, some bakelite fragments and alluminium in poor condition. One larger piece of the geodetic structure was also found. I have since re-visited the site on a number of occasions.
Two photographs showing a selection of the remains still on the surface at the site, all is in poor condition.
A fragment of porcelain containing part of an Air Ministry Crown.
A large number of worked wooden fragments are scattered around the craters, because the Warwick carried a droppable lifeboat under the aircraft it is believed that these wooden fragments are possibly fragments of the boat.