Halifax DG402 above Keys Beck, Farndale, North Yorkshire Moors.

On 5th September 1943 the crew on this aircraft were undertaking a daylight training flight and encountered poor visibilty fifty-five minutes into the flight. While flying over the North Yorkshire Moors at 16.03hrs the aircraft flew into the ground on Rudland Moor above Keysbeck, towards the lower end of Farndale. Wreckage was spread over a large area which made recovery of it difficult at the time, today the nearest road is tarmac'ed but this is not believed to have been done until some years after the War, the nearest made road at the time was some distance away and the wreckage had to be dragged there. Sadly the crew of eight on board were all killed with seven of their bodies being returned to their hometowns for burial across the UK. The accident is mentioned in threeoperation record books for RAF units. Rufforth ORB states "Halifax DG402 crashed on Rudland Moor. All killed." Marston Moor ORB states "Halifax from Rufforth crashed at Kirkbymoorside. 8 killed." and 60 MU ORB states "Halifax DG402. Cat.E2. Salvaged from Middleham Moor, near Kirkbymoorside. Aircraft scattered over 3 1/2 miles, nearest loading point 1 1/2 miles." The quoted location of "Middleham Moor" is not to be determined!

Halifax DG402 was built to contract ACFT/637/C4/C by Rootes Securities Ltd at Speke, Liverpool and delivered directly to 1663 HCU at Rufforth in March 1943. It was destroyed in the incident detailed above with Cat.E2/FA(Burnt) damage being recorded.

Instructor Pilot - F/O Jeffrey Stuart Thomas RAFVR (126001), aged 22, of ? Buried Crick Churchyard, Northamptonshire.

Pilot - Sgt Arthur Cyril Dickinson RAFVR (1576380), aged 21, of Mansfield. Buried Nottingham Road Cemetery, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.

Navigator - Sgt Ronald William Woods RAFVR (1337005), aged 20, of Manor Park, London. Buried Ilford's Barkingside Cemetery, Essex.

Air Bomber - F/Sgt Robert Mercer Todd RCAF (R/145403), aged 21, of Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada. Buried Carluke, Wilton Cemetery, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Flight Engineer - Sgt Frank Johnson RAFVR (1219540), aged 22, of Preston, Lancashire. Buried Preston New Hall Lane Cemetery, Lancashire.

Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Albert Walter Salt RAFVR (1316986), aged 21, of Witney. Buried Witney Burial Ground, Oxfordshire.

Air Gunner - Sgt Edward James Hitchcox RAF(AAF) (843241), aged 32, of Sutton, Surrey. Buried Sutton and Cheam Cemetery, Surrey.

Air Gunner - Sgt Wallace John Robert Blakeley RCAF (R/180851), aged 20, of Almonte, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.

F/O Thomas's headstone at Crick, Northamptonshire (thanks to Mr John Skinn for this photograph), F/O Thomas had 443 hours experience on piloting Halifax's at the time of this accident. He was married to Elizabeth Thomas, of Newcastle-on-Tyne. He was also a B.Sc. graduate of Birmingham University. He was commissioned on 13th June 1942 to the rank of P/O on probation and later rose to F/O on 13th December 1942.

Also shown are Sgt Dickinson's gravestone (thanks to Mr Tony Glover for this photograph) and Sgt Blakeley's gravestone. Wallace Blakeley was born on 19th July 1923.

F/Sgt Robert Todd's grave at Carluke Cemetery, south-east of Glasgow, he is buried with his grandparents. He was born on 29th August 1916.

In 2009 I was lucky enough to be contacted by Ted Hitchcox's sister-in-law Mrs Barbara Hitchcox, she was kind enough to be able to provide some background information on Ted. Ted was one of five children and all five played their part in the War. He became a member of the Auxillery Air Force as far back as 1933 and he was a member of a Barrage Balloon unit in the London area before the War. He was also married in 1933. Photographs of him and the crew named above do still exist but had not yet been released by the family and I respect these wishes. The families of the crew also exchanged letters and photographs of their sons. A further photograph exists of him with another six men, possibly an earlier crew and the family believe that although a tall man he had been a tail gunner for a period and had flown on Lancasters, possibly operationally. At the age of thirty two he could well have flown in the earlier part of the war but his rank being Sergeant at his death would suggest that his operational flying was limited. Research is ongoing. He was the mid upper gunner in Halifax DG402 when it was crashed in Yorkshire.

I first located the crash site on Rudland Moor in September 2002 having had a couple of failed attempts at trying to find the site due to inaccurate map references published at the Yorkshire Air Museum. I revisited the site with John Skinn in March 2003 and carried out a wider search to determine the extent of existing wreckage and record the location. I again returned to the site on the 60th anniversary of the crash to pay my respects. The photograph above shows what I believe to be a couple of marks made in the peat by rotating propellers as the aircraft crashed. I again returned to the site in October 2011 to take better photographs and see what extent recent controlled heather burning over part of the crash site had revealed.

Above shows probably the most complete peice found to date, an air intake from the port outer engine. Below is an example of a Rootes manufacturing inspection stamp (the "R2" mark at the top left) and Halifax part number (with the "57" prefix) proving the site.