The crew of Halifax JD106 took off from Wombleton airfield at 21.25hrs on 22nd June 1944 to carry out a night cross-country training flight with 1666 Heavy Conversion Unit, the nature of the training flight may also have involved a practice bombing exercise though contemporary reference confirming this has been found. The route for the cross country flight was a lengthy one and used turning points after taking off from Wombleton as being Stirling, Inverness, Mull of Oa (Islay), Mull of Galloway, Holyhead (Anglesey), St Bees Head and then return to base. By 01.00hrs the crew would have been on the last leg of the flight back toward Wombleton but then it failed to land. By 02.30hrs the Halifax was overdue at Wombleton and various requests were made to locate the aircraft; sea searches were instigated off the west coast though nothing was found. It was not known what had happened to the Halifax. At 04.50hrs police at Ingleby Greenhow notified Thornaby airfield that an airman had walked down to Bank Foot farm to raise the alarm that his aircraft had crashed on the moors and was on fire. While he did not know where the Halifax had crashed he stated that he was flying from Wombleton. This airman was uninjured but walking along the rough road north to Bank Foot even by today's modern standards is still a remarkable feat.
It was thought that the crew had probably become lost as they neared Wombleton and drifted off too far north over the North York Moor. The pilot had descended to enable his crew to gain a fix on a position having thought that they were closer to base than their actual position and they then came down through the 1500ft cloud-base thinking they were over low ground. As the aircraft was infact over high ground it flew into the ground. It crashed at 01.05hrs, broke up and partly caught fire on Rudland Rigg. On impact the rear section of the aircraft broke off which saved the rear gunner from injury. The rest of the aircraft then disintergrated over a distance of 450 yards and six of the crew were killed, one other was lucky and survived despite serious injuries. Wrist watches of some of the crew were found to have stopped at 01.05hrs which confirmed the time of the crash. The time stated that the crash site was located is given as being 05.00hrs on one account but this seems too soon after the notfication made by police to the RAF, given it would take at least two hours to walk the distance from the crash site to Bank Foot in daytime and knowing where one is going, and then the police had to presumably then drive up Turkey Nab and along the rough Rudland Rigg road following the light of the fire. The bodies of those who died were taken to Thornaby airfield to await burial while the injured airman was taken to Hemlington Nursing Home, Middlesbrough.
Pilot - F/O Arthur Paul Haacke RCAF (J/25812), aged 24, of Elphinstone, Manitoba, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Navigator - F/O Melville Alfred Foy RCAF (J/35518), aged 25, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Flight Engineer - Sgt Percy Reginald Davis RAFVR (1833877), aged 19, of Hackney, London. Buried Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington, London. Father living on Defoe Road, Stoke Newington.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - WO1 Jean Marie Charles Plante RCAF (R/96696), aged 20, of Quebec City, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Air Bomber - F/O Herbert William Garwood RCAF (J/29693), aged 20, of London, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Mid Upper Gunner - P/O Leonard Allan Scutt RCAF (J/40007), aged 21, of Melaval, Saskatchewan, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Flight Engineer - Sgt Robert William Lochhead Lucas RAFVR (1553296). Injured. Mother of 23 Quarry Street, Hamilton, Scotland.
Rear Gunner - P/O Leonard Burnie Lemon RCAF (J/39863). Uninjured.
Arthur Paul Haacke and his grave in Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery. His full 468 page service record is now on the internet and has been used to compile this account. Arthur Haacke was born on 24th June 1919 in Carberry, Manitoba and was the son of Arthur David Clive and Myrtle Haacke (nee Moon), later of Elphinstone, Manitoba, Canada. His father was an auctioneer. While attending school in Elphinstone he worked briefly as a Sioux Lookout (in fire fighting) and as a Clerk. He enlisted into the RCAF on 18th June 1938 in Winnipeg straight out of school as an air frame mechanic and rigger and he later served as a senior rigger and at a maintainance unit until 1942. He married Pauline Rose Proskoe of Watson, Saskatchewan in October 1941 and was serving with a drogue towing unit at the time. He re-mustered as aircrew in August 1942 and begun training as a pilot gaining his Wings on 30th April 1943. Received his commission on the same date and was posted over-seas on 13th September 1943, he arrived in the UK six days later. He was promoted to F/O (temporary) on 30th October 1943. On arrival in England he was first posted to train at 14 (P)AFU and later trained at 22 OTU in March 1944. He and many of those listed above formed their basic crew at 22 OTU and on 6th May 1944 while Haacke, Foy, Garwood, Plante, Lemon and Scutt were flying in Wellington HF623 on a night cross country training exercise the aircraft suffered an engine failure. F/O Haacke made a successful crash-landing at Gaydon on return from the flight at 01.42hrs but the front turret sustained slight damage. He was commended for his actions in making the safe return dispite the situation. He and the rest of his crew arrived at 1666 HCU based at Wombleton on 27th May 1944. Having been at 1666 HCU for nearly a month they were well into their course. At the time of the crash on the North Yorkshire Moors he had a total of 27 hours flying time on the Halifax, sixteen hours of which were at night. The funerals of all who died in this accident and who were to be buried at Harrogate took place on 27th June 1944.
Arthur Haacke had younger brother who served in the RCAF, George Aylwyn Percival Haacke, born on 17th March 1924 and also of Elphinstone. He served with 420 Squadron in late 1944 and early 1945. On the night of 16th/17th January 1945 P/O Haacke was flying Ops to Magdeburg in Halifax NA183 when his aircraft was attacked and shot down by a night-fighter. He and three of the crew were able to bale out but were seriously injured and saw out the remaining months of the war as prisoners of war in hospital. Sadly three other members of his crew were killed including his pilot F/Lt E.B.McCutcheon DFC RCAF. F/Lt McCutcheon and his crew had also gone through training at 1666 HCU at Wombleton but arrived a month after Arthur Haacke's death. George Haacke later returned to Canada and died in Victoria, British Columbia in February 2006. He also had at least three sisters.
Meville Foy was born on 17th December 1919 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and was the son of Joseph George and Theresa Loretto (nee Bannon) Foy. His mother died in 1927. After leaving school he had begun an apprenticeship as a mechanic in 1939 but left this in 1940 to join the Merchant Marine. He served as a seaman from October 1940 until May 1941 when he appears to have left and worked as a production planner in the John Ingles Co Ltd munitions factory in Toronto, the company manufactured Bren guns. He enlisted for RCAF service in Toronto on 17th June 1942 initially stating he wished to enlist for flying duties and specifically as an air gunner but was put into navigator training. He gained his Navigator's half-wings on 17th September 1943. He was posted overseas to continue his training and arrived in England in October 1943, training at 3 (O)AFU and 22 OTU before posting to 1666 HCU at Wombleton on 27th May 1944 with Arthur Haacke.
Jean Plante was born on 8th December 1922 in Quebec, Canada and was the son of Charles Arthur and Juliette (nee Binette) Plante. He was still a student when he enlisted for RCAF service in Quebec on 18th July 1941. After training in Canada he was awarded an Air Gunner's badge on 29th June 1942 receiving good assessments. For the next year he appears to have remained in Canada but there is a gap in his service history. He was posted to the UK towards the end of 1943 and arrived here on 1st December 1943 and then received training at 3 (O)AFU and 22 OTU before posting to 1666 HCU at Wombleton on 27th May 1944.
Leonard Scutt was born on 29th June 1923 in Limerick, Saskatchewan, Canada and was the son of James and Mary Moore (nee White) Scutt. He had been working on the family farm in Melaval, Saskatchewan since leaving high school in 1941 and enlisted for RCAF service in Regina on 11th January 1943. After training in Canada he was awarded his Air Gunner's badge on 23rd December 1943 and also received a commission on the same date. He left Canada on 14th February 1944 and arrived in the UK ten days later. He was later posted to 22 OTU on 7th March 1944 and then to 1666 HCU on 27th May 1944. He received a promotion to F/O on 23rd June 1944. By the time the CWGC created their records after the Second World War his parents were living in Whonock, British Columbia, Canada.
Herbert Garwood was born on 16th April 1924 in London, Ontario, Canada and was the son of William James and Jane Ann (nee Dews) Garwood. Both his parents were born in England but moved to Canada before they were married. Herbert was working in a tannery when he enlisted for RCAF service on 13th June 1942 in London, Ontario. After basic training he was awarded his granted a commission on 20th August 1943 and was also awarded his Air Bomber's badge on the same date, he later rose to F/O on 20th February 1944. After basic training in Canada he was posted overseas and trained at 1 (O)AFU, 23 OTU, 22 OTU and was posted to 1666 HCU at Wombleton on 27th May 1944.
Leonard Lemon would later find himself posted to 429 Squadron on 30th November 1944 after a short period at No.76 Base but was posted back to No.76 Base on 11th February 1945. He was later posted to 427 Squadron and returned to No.76 Base on 28th April 1945. He survived the war. He was probably the individual born on 11th April 1913 and died on 19th May 1980.
Robert Lucas's grand-daughter contacted me in 2017 and supplied the photograph above for inclusion here. He survived this crash because he was thrown though one of the aircraft's windows as it crashed. He was eventually taken to Newcastle General Hospital and later to a nursing home in Hexham. While in hospital in Newcastle met and went on to marry the nurse who helped in during his recovery. At their wedding the rear gunner who survived the crash of Halifax JD106 (Len Lemon) acted as his best man. His injuries prevented him from resuming flying. He went on to live a long life. I thank Lorraine Lucas Hughes for kindly contacting me and for the additional information she was able to provide. He was probably the individual born on 1st September 1921 and died in January 1997.
Halifax JD106 was built to contract ACFT/1808/C4 by The English Electric Company Ltd at Samlesbury and was delivered directly to 10 Squadron at Melbourne on 28th April 1943. On the night of 23rd / 24th May 1943 it sustained minor flak damage. This damage was initially assessed as Cat.A.FB but it was re-assessed on 27th May 1943 as being Re.Cat.B though was initially deemed repairable on site by a team from Handley Page. On 4th June 1943 it was re-assessed and deemed necessary to transport it to Handley Page's repair depot for a repair in works. Once the repair was complete it was passed to 44 M.U. on 26th January 1944 and was then taken on charge by 1666 Heavy Conversion Unit at Wombleton on 17th March 1944. On 27th April 1944 while awaiting clearance for take-off at Wombleton to undertake a training flight it was struck from behind by Halifax JB859 and the rear gunner of Halifax JD106, Sgt Ward Falan RCAF, was killed. Cat.A/FA damage was the assessment following inspection and it was repaired on site. It was returned to 1666 H.C.U. on 19th May 1944. Halifax JD106 continued to be used by 1666 H.C.U. and then on the night of 12th / 13th June 1944 it was being flown on a night cross country training flight when the one of the four engines caught fire in the air over North-East Scotland. The fire went out and the engine was shut down but another engine then suffered a coolant leak so the crew made a successful landing at Peterhead airfield without suffering further damage. The aircraft had an engine change at Peterhead and was flown back to Wombleton where it continued to be used by 1666 H.C.U.. On 23rd June 1944 it crashed on Rudland Rigg, around ten miles north of Wombleton on a training flight. The damage was assessed as being Cat.E2/FA(Burnt) and it was struck off charge on 30th June 1944.
The area of the crash where wreckage is still visible. I initially searched for this crash site in August 2002 in an area where a gas pipeline was buried in 1995 and may have gone straight through what was thought to be the crash site at that time. A few tiny bits of probable aircraft were found but may not have actually been at the crash site proper. I revisited the area again in December 2003 and found the site proper, with numerous small pieces of the aircraft being on the moor across a fairly wide area.
The RAF AM Form 1180 gives a position for the crash as "one mile south of Burton Howe" which is not correct. Having spent many days searching this area in the months prior to locating the site. This location seems to get quoted in a number of other more recent publications.
Some of the remaining parts of Halifax JD106.
These are believed to be bases of practice bombs carried by aircraft around the period in the War, so almost certainly from JD106, leaving me to assume that some form of practice bombing was being carried out on this flight but that they did not release them.
A couple of items found at the crash site in November 2014 with typical Halifax part numbers.
Exactly what this item was is not yet known, the numbers seem to be on the inside of the item which could be the cover or lid of a small box.