Halifax LL178 struck an area of high ground to the west of Arden Hall, near Hawnby in North Yorkshire and the point in which the aircraft initially hit was near the top of a steep grassy bank and was only feet from clearing the highest part of the ground had the aircraft been flying in level flight. The aircraft crashed onto the moorland on the horizon as shown in the photograph above. The crash report states that level flight was not being attained moments before the crash which can be appreciated once the crash location has been found as it is surrounded by slightly higher ground on the side it approached from. Some of the events in the hours following the crash have been located in a No.6 Group flying control log found in IBCC archives. The first record of it having crashed was made at 23.24hrs with the location being given as near Arden Hall and the aeroplane simply believed to be 434/C (ie 434 Squadron /"-C"). By 23.30hrs Topcliffe airfield sent out their crash tender, Wombleton airfield sent their ambulance and Thirsk and Helmsley NFS and police were despatched toward the crash. Skipton on Swale airfield warned that it would be their responsibility to guard the crash site but had no crash tender to send. At 04.30hrs on 18th March 1944 it was still not positively identified as being Halifax LL178 although seven dead airmen had been located. By 08.00hrs the bodies were searched and identified which then positively the wreckage as being LL178. Topcliffe airfield sent their ambulance to recover the bodies but could not locate the crash site so returned to Topcliffe. Skipton on Swale airfield also sent their ambulance and reported that when they located the site Topcliffe's crew were not there but eventually arrived. The bodies of the eight men were carried a mile to the nearest road and then driven to Topcliffe airfield prior to transfer back to Croft. One assumes the normal routine followed in respect of a guard placed on the site prior to the RAF clearing the site of all recoverable useless larger pieces of the aircraft and equipment. Given the nature of the crash the usable equipment was probably minimal. The remaining larger pieces of airframe would have been cut up and removed, burnt on site or buried on site and in this case all three methods appear to have been used. The heather around the crash site would recover in time and now the site is virtually unnoticable to the casual passer-by from public footpaths that pass close to the crash site.

I initially searched for the location of where Halifax LL178 had crashed in late 2002, this however was an unsuccessful search due to errors with the Yorkshire Air Museum's aircraft crash map of Yorkshire and at that time this was my only source for rough locations to crash sites, I did however locate one small piece of alluminium which I now believe was part of this aircraft but was found in a shooting butt around 300 metres from this crash site. I located the crash site in February 2003 which was on my next visit to the area but initially there would be a slight problem in determining that this site was indeed where Halifax LL178 had crashed, this was because two other Halifax's also crashed within a mile of each other. Two of which; this and Halifax EB181 were of the same type and manufacturer and both are known to have crashed in the Kepwick Bank / Arden Hall area, also all the modern map references previously published for both these aircraft crash locations seem to have been mixed up and inaccurately calculated. To determine which aircraft we had located a search was carried out of the largest area of wreckage where part of the aircraft had either burnt out on crashing, or where the RAF had later set fire to remaining wreckage. The aim was to try to locate pieces which could be used for dating material because LL178 crashed in 1944 so anything dated 1944 cannot have been from EB181 which had crashed in 1943. A number of cooked .303 armour piercing rounds were found, most had the 1943 date on them but some were dated 1944 confirming that this area was indeed the location where Halifax LL178 had crashed. The other Halifax crashes in the area were both in 1943 so could not carry 1944 bullets. There were a lot of other very small pieces in the ash and peat however there was nothing else to determine a date from. Across the site there is a scatter of smaller items which must still be as they were when the aircraft crashed, as well as a small pit containing larger items. This pit could have either been filled by the RAF following the crash, or by game keepers in time afterwards. I have been back to the site a number of times since locating it to record the exact locations of all known remaining pieces and to write down all part numbers and stamps of alluminium parts still readable. As I visited this site over the coming years it became apparent that this site was clearly an incident that no-one could have survived, the accident to Halifax EB181 had two survivors so must have crashed less violently and possibly been more intact when it came to rest.

This photograph shows the area of where the largest of the fires occurred at the crash site and may well be where the RAF collected and set fire to what remained of the aircraft or the result of a large post-crash fire. In this area are hundreds of exploded .303 bullet cases and numerous other tiny pieces of the aircraft. When I located the site in 2003 there was a very tiny secondary area containing a few pieces of the aircraft, since my first visit this area has clearly been made much larger by someone digging the ground up around it and a lot of pieces of the aircraft are now to be seen. In 2006 I visited again after the whole site had had the heather burnt off for grouse breeding, I discovered a new area of wreckage at the far end of what must have been a long wreckage trail. I walked between all the known areas of wreckage to search for other stray items and found further interesting items including the bomb aimer's glazed window from the very front of the aircraft and this would probably prove that the aircraft did not strike the ground nose-first as one would expect this to be at the very start of the crash sequence and not towards the end of it.

This photograph shows where I believe the aircraft first struck the ground with a wing and created this mark in the ground leaving small fragments behind. The propeller covering shown above right was found in this area as well as other items.

A "pit" with a collection of parts of the Halifax in it. This collection could be been collected together in an already existing depression on the moor or perhaps the hole was created when the aircraft crashed.

A very crumpled section of the aircraft found in this "pit".

What I refer to as the main "memorial" area of the crash site.

In May 2004 a stone memorial was placed at the crash site by Mr David Morris of Thirsk.

A smaller collection of surface wreckage.

At the far end of the wreckage trail is this collection of wreckage.

In late 2005 another memorial in the form of a wooden cross was also placed near the crash site, which also happens to be at the location which the Yorkshire Air Museum quote for the site. The cross was placed near the crash site by family friends of Doug Thicke, who on two occasions had visited the area.

I have located a large number of Halifax marked items at this crash site and show an example of them here. The photograph above shows a fine example of how Handley Page Halifax parts were marked.

A good example of a Rootes "R2" marked Halifax part.

An example of how the Halifax aircraft parts were marked, this piece contains the lettering "HAL 718" and I have not seen the prefix "HAL" on any other Halifaxes bits. The manufacturor of the piece "D&B" is not yet known.

Part of the parachute pack, it could be parachute cord but more likely cord was strung around the packed parachute that held it together.

Aircrew harness buckles.

Two photographs of the port mass balance mounting as seen in March 2014. In 2008 this was partly buried and is shown in the photograph below.

A small pocket knife found in the main "memorial" area.

An electrical box.

The nose panel.

Searching for the site in 2002 in poor weather!

The aircraft's dinghy knife found in the main area of wreckage.

The item on the left is unidentified and on the right is part of a landing light.

Part of a parachute pack (left) and (right) a large electrical connector.

Examples of the exploded .303 bullet cases at the crash site, on the left is a 1943 dated one and on the right is one from 1944.

This flare tripwire device was also found near the crash site and may be connected to the people who guarded the crash site.

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