On 27th September 1943 the crew of this 1664 Heavy Conversion Unit aircraft took off for a night cross-country training exercise from Croft. Three and half hours into the flight and whilst returning to base the aircraft flew into high ground on the North Yorkshire Moors at 1200 feet at 00.07hrs on 28th September 1943. The aircraft reportedly did not catch fire on impact. Visibility was described as being "bad" at the time of the crash. The RAF Hospital Northallerton's ORB states that "one survivor had multiple fractures and was severely shocked and lay all night in the rain in damp heather. Nobody knew about the accident until the next morning when the survivors were found by some soldiers. The mobile surgical unit took two ambulances and three medical officers to the scene of the accident, the first RAF vehicle to reach it, and successfully resuscitated and brought down the two survivors. To have moved the man with multiple fractures without resuscitation would certainly have killed him". Croft's ORB states the wreckage was not located until 14.30hrs the afternoon after the crash, so undoubtedly the crash and survivors lay undiscovered for some hours. Five airmen were killed instantly, and although two others were to survive the crash one later died of his injuries. The remaining survivor later stated that he thought the reason for the crash was that they were simply flying too low at the time, nothing else appeared to him to be out of the ordinary. It was the Unit's second loss, they lost a pilot to a crash near Stillington at the start of the month.

Halifax EB181 was built to contract ACFT/637/C4/C by Rootes Securities Ltd at Speke. It was initially delivered to 18 M.U. on 25th May 1943 and was then taken on charge by 1664 Heavy Conversion Unit at Croft on 11th June 1943 a month after formed. It was destroyed as a result of the crash on 28th September 1943 with Cat.E2/FA damage being the damage assessment. It was struck off charge on 12th October 1943 once the paperwork caught up. It's total flying hours are not known.

Pilot - F/O Raymond Harold Highsted RCAF (J/26984), aged 21, of New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.

Navigator - Sgt John Charles Mitchell RAFVR (1397975), aged 27. Cremated Golders Green, Middlesex.

Bomb Aimer - Sgt Frederick John Luckett RAFVR (1800889), aged 21, of New Horsted, Kent. Buried Chatam Cemetery, Kent.

Flight Engineer - F/Sgt John James Timmins RAFVR (1777401), aged 19, of Rowlands Gill, County Durham. Buried High Spen Churchyard, near Winlaton, County Durham.

Air Gunner - Sgt James Nelson RAFVR (1002811), aged 23, of Preston. Buried New Hall Lane Cemetery, Preston, Lancashire.

Rear Gunner - Sgt Herbert Percy Durtnall Charlton RAFVR (1318463), aged 22, of South Godstone, Surrey. Buried Godstone Churchyard, Surrey. Died of injuries 9th October 1943.

Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Charles Francis West RAFVR (1330246), of Leyton, Essex. Seriously injured.

F/O Highsted's grave at Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery. Ray Highsted was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada on 8th August 1922 and was the son of Claude James and Minna Dorothy (nee Hintze) Highsted. The family home was on Ewen Avenue, New Westminster and as a child he attended school in Queensborough School in New Westminster between 1928 and 1936 and then studied at the T J Trapp Technical College between 1936 and June 1940. From June 1940 he worked in Westminster Shook Mills, making boxes in a box factory. He enlisted for RCAF service on 24th June 1941 in Vancouver and stated that he wished to undertake pilot training. Having undertook initial training in Canada he was awarded his Pilot's Wings on 24th April 1942 but did not go overseas immediately. His service file states he was granted indefinite leave without pay during what appears to have been from June to December 1942, why this happened is not stated in his service file. He received a commission to the rank of P/O on 23rd November 1942 and was promoted to F/O on 23rd May 1943.

On arrival in the UK in March 1943 he trained at 14 (P)AFU beginning 21st April 1943 and 24 OTU beginning 14th June 1943 before posting to 1664 HCU at Croft on 4th September 1943. At the time of the crash near Kepwick Bank he had amassed a total of 554 hours flying, 200 of which being on the Halifax type, however only three of these hours were at night. The flight in which EB181 crashed had lasted just over three hours, I don't yet know if the three recorded hours flying at night relate to these hours prior to the crash on the evening 27th September 1943 which would mean the crash occurred on his first solo night flight in a Halifax. Having said that generally aircrew would practice more basic night circuits and landings exercises prior to undertaking cross country training flights at night so he had probably clocked up three hours prior to taking off on 27th September 1943. It certainly looks like the crash happened on their first night cross country training flight. Ray Highsted was buried at Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery on 2nd October 1943.

It transpires from a a webforum on another website that he was actually named Harold Raymond Highsted, the reverse of the listing on the CWGC register and his service file. Ray had a younger brother, who's son Mr David Highsted, I learn from the same webforum, was researching his Uncle. Despite attempts to contact him I have as yet been unsuccessful. If he wished to contact me I have gathered some information which may be of interest to him.

F/Sgt Jim Timmins was buried at St Patrick's Churchyard in High Spen, County Durham on 2nd October 1943 not at Winlaton Churchyard as the CWGC database states, Winlaton is three miles from the actual location. In the 1970s the St Patrick's Churchyard suffered from subsidence and land slippage. Sadly all the gravestones were removed and destroyed but the graveyard was made stable, landscaped and then grassed. In the 1960s an engraved stone was placed on a wall of Hookergate Cemetery, a civil cemetery on land ajoining the church. This plaque carries the names of the War-dead buried there. John Timmins had a squadron nickname of "Geordie". Prior to enlisting into the RAFVR John Timmins (of Derwent Dene, Orchard Avenue, Rowlands Gill) volunteered as a Messenger in the ARP where he lived. This would envolved riding motorcycles and carrying messages over greater distance when necessary. Timmins also worked either making or selling leather goods during the same period. Such messengers were usually Boy Scouts, or older men with cars. He was also a member of 1072 Squadron ATC, he apparently joined 1664 HCU direct from the ATC. He was carried by members of the ATC squadron at his funeral. My thanks to Mr Brian Pears for much of this information on F/Sgt Timmins and for the photos of the memorial shown above.

Frederick Luckett's grave in Chatam Cemetery, Kent. I credit "J.S." with his gravestone photograph. He was the son of Henry Frederick John and Eva Luckett, of New Horsted, Kent.

James Nelson's grave in Preston. I credit "Bob A." with his gravestone photograph. He was the son of Albert and Frances May Nelson; and also the husband of Mary Nelson, of Preston.

The location of the crash site of Halifax EB181 has been somewhat tricky to prove with hard evidence. It is almost certainly very close in proximity to another Halifax site, that of LL178, which crashed in the same area some months later. Wreckage in the area of LL178 could be from both aircraft and simply collected together and working out which wreckage is from which aircraft is virtually impossible but I believe t hat all the wreckage at the LL178 site is from LL178 as it completely disintergrated leaving a trail which can still be followed today. My webpage detailing the loss of Halifax LL178 is here.

The problem is that both the Halifax's EB181 and LL178 were of the same type and model number and manufacturer, any pieces which remained after the first crash (EB181) could have been removed when the second crashed, or in the years following the crashes the wreckage could have been combined as a result of gamekeeper clear-ups as is known to have occurred elsewhere. The site of LL178 is (probably through this website) one of the more well known sites in the modern day North Yorkshire Moors where as EB181 has remained some what of a mystery to many.

Historians Ken Reast and David Thompson gained permission from the Estate to locate a small number of pieces at (which I believe is) the correct crash site of EB181 in the early 1990s, these were placed in a broken down wall for protection. Upon contact with them I then found two tiny pieces in the same area in 2002, and again placed them in the same wall. These pieces remained there until the wall was rebuilt and since then I have not seen them again although I doubt the estate workers who rebuilt the wall would take them away so they were probably left in the centre of the wall and fresh stones added around them. Nothing else has ever been found on the surface since my last finds. The photograph below shows one of my two tiny pieces found which I believe is from EB181.

While I am not keen in adding exact locations of crash sites on this website the crash location of Halifax EB181 is where the memorial cross to Halifax LL178 was placed in the mid-2000's.

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