The record of this aircraft and the crew who were killed in the resulting crash is what I am trying to create with my research in general. This updated and extended webpage was created on the 62nd anniversary of the crash and further updated on the 70th anniversary with minor updates made on occasion after this. It is dedicated to the crew of LL178 and is a tribute to their memory. I am repectfully indebted to the families of the airmen for their patience, time and information, without which this page would not have been created.
Many of the airmen who were on board Halifax LL178 when it crashed at Kepwick Bank Top, North Yorkshire. (Left to right - Ballentine, Armour, Unknown ground crew, Evans, Cotton, Jackson, Hutt (Sleigher is not pictured)).
At 18.34hrs on the 18th March 1944 434 Squadron Halifax LL178 set out from Croft, Yorkshire, the crew were to undertake a mine laying operation in the Heligoland area. This operation was a diversionary raid whilst Frankfurt was being bombed by 846 other aircraft of squadrons of Bomber Command. This aircraft was one of 98 aircraft which had taken off for these diversionary operations. On board LL178 on this flight the regular crew had another pilot, Sgt Thicke, he was flying his Dicky mission with this crew in preparation for undertaking operational flying with his own crew who he had gone through training with. All appears to have gone well outbound and with the mine laying part of the trip, the mines being successfully dropped. On the return part of the flight they were given instruction that bad weather had developed over their base. Three of the crew had retired to the rest position on the aircraft for the final part of the trip and whilst the aircraft crossed the Yorkshire coast and made for Croft, they awaited landing. For reasons not ever understood, the aircraft descended through cloud over the North Yorkshire Moors, something they and all crews were briefed not to do. One assumes that they thought they were well over the last of the hills and began their descent to go down to join the landing circuit at Croft. The aircraft struck the ground and crashed near Kepwick Bank Top at 23.00hrs killing all on board, with the wreckage catching fire on or soon after impact. The place where the crash occurred was literally the last hill they would have to fly over. The crash report states that the aircraft crashed whilst flying at a steep angle. Other sources vary from this and although not the official crash report, another source states that an engine was on fire prior to the crash whilst a further source states the aircraft had been damaged by flak. The evidence at the crash site many decades later suggests that the aircraft was not in a steep dive prior to the crash but must have been descending for it to crash where it had as there is an area of high ground close by which it had missed.
A collection of papers and photographs as printed in a Canadian newspaper on 11/11/1991 in remembrance of this crew.
My thanks to all the families of the airmen who have contacted me to provide information on this incident and the airmen involved, without their contact this webpage would not be so complete.
I would also like to link the following website to my information on the crew, the aircraft and their loss. Alan Soderstrom's website on 434 Squadron is an excellent website and can be found the following link.... rcaf434squadron. I would like to thank him for contacting me. He also runs a Facebook group on the squadron.
Halifax LL178 was built to contract ACFT/637 by Rootes Securities Ltd at Speke and was delivered directly to 427 'Lion' Squadron at Leeming on 20th December 1943. It coded "-K" at 427 Squadron and was used operationally by them on 29th December 1943, 21st January 1944 and 28th January 1944. It's AM Form 78 states that it was transferred to 429 'Bison' Squadron, also at Leeming, on 6th February 1944. This agrees with the squadron records as it does not appear used operationally by 427 Squadron again with it being replaced as "-K" by Halifax LW557. With 429 Squadron it carried the squadron code "-V" and they used the aircraft operationally on 15th / 16th February 1944, 19th / 20th February 1944. The first use deserves a mention. It was being flown by F/Lt R H V Hunt RAF (133617) on an operational flight to Berlin when they encountered and were attacked by an unidentified twin engined enemy aircraft. The pilot took evasive action and the rear gunner, F/Sgt D B McCaffrey RCAF (R/183666) returned fire, claiming hits on the enemy aircraft. The Halifax was undamaged. This was it's last operational flight with 429 Squadron as it was soon transferred to 434 Squadron at Croft but the date on the AM78 is completely unreadable. It was between 20th February and 6th March 1944. The aircraft's AM78 states it was assessed as having minor Cat.Ac damage on 6th March 1944 with 434 Squadron. No information is known as to how this damage came about. It was quickly repaired on site and returned to 434 Squadron use. Halifax LK682 had carried the squadron code "-R" up until 11th March 1944 when it crashed landed at Molesworth badly damaged on Ops earlier. Halifax LL178 then carried the squadron code "-R" for it's two operational flights with 434 Squadron; firstly on 16th March 1944 and then fatally on 18th March 1944. Unfortunately the 434 Squadron orb scribe mis-identified the aircraft as Halifax LK178 in both cases. Following the accident at Kepwick on 18th March 1944 Cat.E2/FB(Burnt) damage was later recorded and the aircraft was written off. It was struck off charge on the same date.