The crew of this aircraft had been posted to 425 Squadron on 8th January 1945 with their training program at 1659 Heavy Conversion Unit complete but they were still working up to being an operational crew with 425 Squadron at the time of this incident. At 18.51hrs on 14th January 1945 this aircraft took off from Tholthorpe airfield for a night cross-country navigation exercise with a crew of seven men, mainly French-Canadians. The training flight was nearly complete and the crew were returning to their home airfield at Tholthorpe, near Easingwold, but thick low cloud was covering the general area around the base and the hills to the north east and as the aircraft neared Thirsk the crew were almost certainly flying in cloud and were disorientated. As the aircraft neared the Sutton Bank it was flying roughly east and descending through the cloud. Soon after flying over Southwoods Hall the crew would not have seen the high ground they were descending into until it was not possible to avoid a crash. At 21.45hrs the aircraft struck this high ground about half a mile north of White Mare Crag. After the impact the aircraft bounced itself onto the snow covered fields and broke up. The tail section broke off almost immediately and much of the aircraft then disintergated and parts caught fire across the field as it came to a halt some distance from it's initial point of impact to the west of Dialstone Farm. Six of the crew were killed in these seconds, the airmen in the front part of the aircraft stood no chance of survival and were almost certainly lost their lives instantly.
Mr Joseph Sharp, the 24 year old son of the owner of Dialstone Farm, Mr John Sharp, had heard the resulting crash. He was tending to animals in the farm buildings and was the first to arrive at the crash site, by the time he arrived at the crash a number of fires had broken out and bullets were heard to be exploding with the heat. He heard the shouts of a trapped survivor who was in danger of being burnt by these fires and made his way to him by climbing up to where this survivor was trapped in the remains of the mid-upper turret. Mr Joseph Sharp recounted to me that the airman was a larger man than he was and was trapped by a metal across his knees, he told Joseph Sharp to un-zip his flying boots and to try and lift him out but reaching down into the remaining fuselage this was not possible, the metal along with his broken legs prevented him being easily removed. The farm's owner Mr John Sharp and his daughter Mabel arrived at the site a short time later, Joseph had had to go for help and met them on his way back to the farm. The fire which was slowly making it's way up the fuselage was getting closer to the turret by the time he returned to the airman with his father, Joseph then went inside the remains of the aircraft and underneath the air gunner while his father climbed up to where his son had previously been. Mabel began throwing snow onto the fire to try and stop it spreading, given all she had were her hands to do this, it had little effect. John and Joseph Sharp managed to extract the airman as the fire was literally reaching them, they dragged him further from the flames onto a piece of the aircraft where he was clearly in some pain. He was put onto the snow and wrapped in a parachute which was found. The farmers then turned their efforts in looking for the other members of the crew and after locating them it was realised that none had stood a chance of survival given their location at the front of the aircraft, there was nothing that could be done for them.
Meanwhile, people at Southwoods Hall down the hillside had also seen the fire on the hill top and had contacted the police, who inturn one assumes they had contacted the RAF and other services who had all began to drive to the top of Sutton Bank and to Dialstone Farm. A horse and sled had been brought up to the crash site and the survivor was put onto this sled and carefully taken back to Dialstone Farm, this took some time due to the airman's injuries and the pain he was in and soon after they arrived back at the farm, the authorities arrived. Joseph Sharp returned to the crash site again and helped recover the bodies of the other airmen. It was at this stage that it was realised there was a body short so a second search was made and the tail section of the aircraft was located, the gunner was in his turret but had also been killed in the crash, he along with his crew mates were taken to Dialstone Farm and eventually to be buried along side one another at Harrogate's Stonefall Cemetery.
The survivor was taken to the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton where he spent a period of time before being admitted to a smaller cottage hospital in the town. He later returned to Canada where it is known that he visited some of the families of the airmen killed in the crash. His family also wrote to the Sharp family to express their thanks for saving his life. Other more modern accounts that detail this incident state that the air gunner suffered severe burns in the crash, from the information from Mr Sharp this however was not the case, as far as is known he suffered two broken legs and a broken arm, one also assumes however he had other injuries of a more minor nature.
The recovery of the aircraft took some time, nothing was done until the snow had melted and a guard was placed at the site until then, it was recounted that these guards were very reluctant to stand in a snow covered field on top of the Hambleton Hills in the middle of Winter. One guard was found sheltering at the farm and was given food in the house by Mrs Sharp. The aircraft was eventually recovered from the area. A main wheel and the turret ended up on the slope down towards Southwoods Hall but the rest of the aircraft was scattered across the fields on the hill top. In the decades following the crash the area has been ploughed and cultivated and much of anything which would have remained on site was almost certainly ploughed in.
It would be some time later when the Sharp family discovered that they had been recommended for awards for their efforts on the that night. For their efforts, Mr John Sharp (aged 58) and his son Mr Joseph Sharp (aged 24) were both awarded the British Empire Medal, Miss Mabel Sharp (aged 19) was awarded a Commendation for Bravery, all published in the London Gazette on 26th June 1945. They were invited to Buckingham Palace to receive their Awards but did not wish to attend. A letter from King George VI dated 31st May 1946 probably suggests the date when the medals were posted to them at home. The last paragraph in the Men's citation reads "... by their courage, resource and tenacity of purpose, saved the life of the injured airman". These are the only known gallantry awards given to any civilians in the North Yorkshire Moors area in the whole of the War. Joseph Sharp left the farm in 1952 and a year later his father John gave up the farm to another daughter and son-in-law who took over farming it. The farm was later sold twice and is now in the ownership of the Redhead family to whom I must thank for their help in my initial research into this incident. I express my thanks to Mr Joseph Sharp (pictured above), his wife, daughter and and son-in-law for their hospitality and for allowing me to learn the full story of what happened that night. Without being able to meet Mr Sharp in April 2006 the speculation and rumours which existed about the events of this night would not have been corrected. It was a pleasure to spend a rewarding afternoon with his family. Joseph Sharp BEM died on 30th January 2013, aged 92. Mr John Sharp's British Empire Medal was stolen from the farm some years ago, if the medal is located his family would very much like it returning. The National Archives also list a recommendation for an award to a Gladys Doreen Bielby who was also involved in the rescue attempt but no detail surrounding her actions are yet known. Her recommendation was not followed through with an award.
Halifax LW466 was built to contract ACFT/2595/C4/C by the London Aircraft Production Group at the Leavesden factory and was delivered directly to 425 Squadron at Tholthorpe airfield on 13th October 1944. It was written off with Cat.E2/FA(Burnt) damage being recorded following the accident near Sutton Bank on 14th January 1945. A brief entry on Tholthorpe's record book stated: "Aircraft on training flight crashed at 21.45 hours at Dialstone Farm, Hambleton. 6 killed, 1 injured."
Pilot - F/O John Wallace Richard Walsh RCAF (J/38040), aged 20, of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Flight Engineer - Sgt Kenneth Millard Hillis RCAF (R/254854), aged 30, of Brockville, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Navigator - Sous Lt Joseph Robert Real Gingras RCAF (J/41544), aged 21, of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Bomb Aimer - Sous Lt Robert Joseph Dubeau RCAF (J/41523), aged 23, of Penetang, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - WO2 Jean Jacques Marcel Simard RCAF (R/125326), aged 23, of Ottawa, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Rear Gunner - F/Sgt Joseph Leon Alfred Chauvin RCAF (R/207284), aged 21, of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Mid Upper Gunner - F/Sgt Octave Robert Custeau RCAF (R/81725), of Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada. Survived but with serious injuries; multiple fractures.
John Walsh was born on 19th May 1924 at Montreal, Quebec, Canada and was the son of William and Antoinette (nee Dugas) Walsh. He enlisted for RCAF service in Montreal on 11th September 1942 and after training in Canada he was awarded his pilot's wings and also a commission on 12th November 1943. He arrived in the UK in April 1944. After training at 3 (P)AFU, 1525 BAT Flight, 22 OTU and 1659 HCU he was posted to 425 Squadron on 8th January 1945.
Joseph Gingras was born on 2nd September 1923 and was the son of Wilfrid and Yvonne (nee Brosseau) Gingras, of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Sous/Lt Robert Dubeau RCAF and his headstone at Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery. Robert Dubeau was born on 29th May 1922 in Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada and was the son of Arthur and Aseline (nee Potvin) Dubeau. Prior to enlisting Robert Dubeau played baseball for his local team in Penetanguishine, Ontario. He enlisted for RCAF service on 31st August 192 in Toronto and
received his commission to the rank of P/O on 11th February 1944, also on the same date he was awarded his Air Bomber's badge when his basic training in Canada was complete. He was then posted overseas and arrived in England in April 1944. He then continued his training at 6 (O)AFU from 23rd May 1944, 22 OTU from 25th July 1944 and later 1659 HCU from 18th October 1944.
He was promoted to the rank of F/O on 11th August 1944. With the training program complete he was posted to 425 Squadron on 8th January 1945. My thanks to Mrs L. Sullivan for the photograph of Robert Dubeau and for other details she has been able to give.
Joseph Chauvin was born on 24th August 1923, he was the son of Isaie and Marie-Louise (nee Coulombe) Chauvin, of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada. He was from a large family with three brothers and seven sisters and also four more siblings who had died in childhood. He enlisted for RCAF service in Montreal on 17th November 1942 and after basic trainin in Canada he was awarded his air gunner's badge on 23rd December 1943. He arrived in the UK in May 1944 and was posted to train at 22 OTU (beginning ) and 1659 HCU beginning 15th November 1944. He was posted to 425 Squadron on 8th January 1945. The photograph of him shown above was presumably taken during his training. My thanks to Gilles Chauvin for sending me the photograph of his Uncle.
Kenneth Hillis was born on 22nd August 1914 in Brockville, Ontario, Canada and was the son of Herman Millard and Ida Amelia Hillis (nee McDonald). His mother died in 1918. After leaving school he started working as a telephone engineer for Phillips Electric Works, Brockville in 1937. He married Audrey Rowena Selley on 31st May 1941, also of Brockville (who possibly died in 2004). He enlisted for RCAF service on 23rd June 1943 in Ottawa for aircrew duties and initially underwent basic navigator training but later switched to become a flight engineer. On arrival in the UK in July 1944 he trained at No.4 School of Technical Training and 1659 HCU before posting to 425 Squadron on 8th January 1945. The crew would therefore have been working up to being operational at the time of their deaths and had not yet flown any operational flights together.
Jean Jacques Simard was born on 12th June 1921, he was the son of Joseph Felix and Marie Louise (nee Tague) Simard, of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He enlisted for RCAF service at Ottawa on 12th August 1941. It was recalled to me by Mr Sharp that in the years after the War the Simard family did come to the site where their son had been killed, having spoken to the Sharp family they were shown the site of the crash.
The aircraft came down in a fields shown on this photograph and small remains are still to be found on the surface. I thank Mr Richard Redhead for allowing me to field walk the area of the crash site in 2010 after harvest.
