On 11th October 1944 this 618 Squadron Mosquito was on a top secret transit flight from Beccles to Turnberry airfield to undertake a weapons training exercise that would involve dropping a highly secretive bomb. The aircraft was carrying two "Highball" bombs, a smaller version of the bouncing bomb which was intended for use on shipping. As it flew North over Yorkshire it was flying in low cloud over the North Yorkshire Moors, the pilot would have been flying using his instruments because of the poor visibility. The aircraft climbed to avoid the high ground between Helmsley and Bransdale. It successfully cleared what would have been much higher ground of the Tabular Hills escarpment and appears to have descended to fly just above the moorland beyond. It was thought that the pilot only noticed the ground ahead rising at the last minute and pulled up sharply, control was then lost and the aircraft struck the ground on the down side of Bransdale just after midday killing both crew. I strongly believe that one of the two Highball's exploded on impact though the source documentation is lacking in detail so does not state this.
In February 2003 I visited the home of Mr Ken Luck who witnessed this incident, he was working in fields to the east of the crash site when he heard an aircraft nearby with it's engines sputtering, he realised that it was in trouble and for a while thought that the twin engine aircraft was heading for him. The aircraft's nose then dipped and the aircraft crashed some 500 metres away. He recalls the day was Wednesday, market day in Kirkbymoorside, Bransdale was fairly deserted at the time due to that. The aircraft exploded on impact, with a large bomb rolling down the hill into the orchard at the farm. Being possibly the only witness to the crash the young Mr Luck went to alert the Police about the situation, as there were no telephones in Bransdale at the time he had to ride his bicycle to Gillamoor to alert PC Bell. In a short while the RAF authorities arrived in Bransdale. My thanks to Mr Luck for the evening of memories he recounted to me, he died in 2025.
Mosquito DZ543 was built to contract ACFT/555 by De Havilland at Hatfield and was delivered new to Vickers Armstrongs at Weybridge on 24th March 1943. Exactly why it went to Vickers is not totally clear but it may have been so that special bomb carriers could be fitted that would be required for the special task 618 Squadron were to be undertaking. The aircraft was taken on charge by 618 Squadron on 4th May 1943 but on 17th June 1943 it was in need of a repair in works so was returned to De Havilland. Once servicable it was returned to 618 Squadron. The aircraft carried a prefix "G" on the serial number meaning the aircraft was to be guarded because of the secret nature of what it was used for. A repair on site was then required on 6th August 1943 and it was returned to 618 Squadron use on 13th August 1943. While based at Skitten, on 5th July 1944 the aircraft was flown to Airspeed for some form of modification and it was returned to 618 Squadron once complete on 29th September 1944 but by this date they had moved to Beccles. As a result of the crash in Bransdale on 11th October 1944 Cat.E2/FA damage was the damage assessment. Numerous older publications incorrectly record that this aircraft crashed in the "Helmsdale" area of Sutherland, Scotland and I presume this is because the original creator of the record had not heard of Helmsley in Yorkshire and everyone else copied the orginal error in the name of "research".
The "Highball" was developed by Barnes Wallis as an alternative to the torpedo, it was to be carried by Mosquitos, the Highball could cause more damage to ships than a torpedo as the explosive payload could be larger. The Highball could also skip over the traditional torpedo defences which could be in place around shipping. The Tirpitz was to be the first ship attacked by Highball at the same time as the Dam Buster Raids but this was called off as the Germans had secured all areas which could be damaged by bouncing bombs after the Ruhr raid. 618 Squadron was soon transferred to Australia to assist the Americans. The Americans shelved the idea, making the crash on the North Yorkshire Moors of this 618 Squadron aircraft with a Highball quite rare.
Pilot - P/O Alfred Robert William Milne RAFVR (186495), aged 22, of Mitcham, Surrey. Buried London Road Cemetery, Mitcham, Surrey.
Navigator / Wireless Operator - WO Eric Alan Stubbs RAFVR (1323395), aged 22, of Guildford. Buried Guildford (Stoke) New Cemetery, Surrey.
Alfred Milne received a commission on 31st August 1944 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency). He married Gwendolen Margaret Oliver in 1943 who was a Land Army girl. After Alfred's death she emmigrated to Winnipeg, Canada in 1947 and in 1948 she married Cyril Fitzgibbon, she died in December 2011 in the Duncan area of British Columbia. Alfred Milne almost certainly flew with other less secretive units before posting to 618 Squadron but as yet no details of other postings are known.
Nothing more is known about the navigator Eric Stubbs. The photograph shown above was released by North Yorkshire Police.
Following the crash it appears that much of the scattered wreckage was put into the crater caused by the crash and this was partly covered over with soil. This remained buried until March 1969 when it relocated, dug up and much of it was removed by a now defunct group called Yorkshire Aircraft Preservation Society, headed by Mr Brian Rapier. The tail wheel section and other parts from this aircraft was recovered at the time and found its way to Tony Agar's Mosquito rebuild which was initially stored at his house in Huntington, then housed at the Yorkshire Air Museum and is now at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirkby. The Highball carrier was also recovered and was on display at Y.A.M. though was then passed to the De Havilland museum in Hertfordshire. Human remains found at a property in Bilsdale in 2020 sparked a major multi-agency investigation, following DNA testing they were identified to have been remains of Alfred Milne and Eric Stubbs. The remains were buried in their existing graves in August 2021. Google searches will give any interested persons further information on this.