On 15th March 1945 this 347 Squadron, Free French crewed, Halifax took off from Elvington at 18.30hrs for an operational flight to bomb Hagen, Germany. 267 aircraft took part in the raid and it was carried out in clear visibility, severe damage was sustained to the central and eastern districts of the city. During the outbound trip this aircraft drifted off course slightly, though the crew corrected their route and the bomb load was released over the target. The crew made for base and returned to North Yorkshire, they arrived over the general Elvington area at 6000 feet but poor visibility was effecting flying in North Yorkshire. As they approached base they were told that they could not land as the airfield was busy and was fog-bound so they were directed north to land at another airfield (though which airfield is not yet known). At some point in the flight it is believed that the aircraft's instruments had been damaged or had failed. The aircraft flew north and in almost zero visibility headed towards the North Yorkshire Moors. It was thought that the pilot had ordered the flight engineer to go to the back of the aircraft and check to see if all the bombs had gone from the bomb bay, he did as instructed but then noticed the ground rushing by just below them. It was too late for the pilot to pull up, the aircraft struck a stone wall, believed to be near the A170 road, between Helmsley and Thirsk, and the aircraft then started to break up. The main body of the Halifax then seemingly became airborne again briefly before eventually crashing into a tree near Scawton, west of Helmsley. The wings and engines broke off soon after the first impact. This researcher spoke to local people in 2007 who recalled the bodies of airmen being found along the route the aircraft had taken. It was thought by locals that the crew who remained at the front of the aircraft had survived the first impact with the wall but had assumed the aircraft was breaking up in mid-air and begun to bale out but they were to be only afew feet from the ground and stood no chance to survival in attempting to bale out. The impacts with the walls would clearly have caused damage to the front of the aircraft (and propellers) and it is possible that all who were found on the route of the crashing aircraft had infact been thrown out in the impacts and had been killed, or as locals believe, in attempting to bale out. Aircrew did not have their parachutes attached to themselves in regular flight, it would take time to leave their position, gather and clip on a parachute and escape the aircraft. This period of time would appear to have been too less a period for them to be baling out in this case in my opinion.
The flight engineer; who had passed out on opening the hatch to the bomb bay, and the rear gunner were lucky, the rear of the aircraft survived remarkably well in comparison to the rest of the plane. They somehow survived the crash and were rescued by villagers who had heard the crash and took them to the vicarage where they were given first aid before being taken by ambulance to hospital in Northallerton. It is thought these two airmen made good recoveries and were able to later return home to a liberated France.
The RAF Form AM1180 crash card simply states that the aircraft had missed their base and overshot by twenty five miles, where it flew into the high ground at 850 feet above sea level at 23.45hrs and caught fire on impact. The pilot of this aircraft was nearing the end of his Tour of Operations and was known for being a nervous pilot and had fainted on previous operational flights, though this may not have been a factor in the loss. A brief entry in the Elvington ORB with regard this incident states: "NR287 'C' of 347 Sqn crashed into high ground near Thirsk." Wombleton ORB states similar:"00.00 hours. Aircraft of 347 Sqn crashed at Scawton. 5 killed. Two admitted to Northallerton Hospital."
Halifax NR287 was built to contract ACFT/2553/C4/C by English Electric Co. Ltd. at Samlesbury and delivered directly to 347 Squadron on 2nd December 1944. It sustained Cat.E2/FB(Burnt) damage as a result of the accident at Scawton on 15th March 1945 and was struck off charge some days later on 26th March 1945.
Those who lost their lives here were buried at Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery but have since been returned to France, they were :
Pilot - Cmdt Georges Camille Ostre FFAF (3361), aged 27. Burial location unknown.
Navigator - Capt (Father) Raymond Julien Adolphe Chevalier FFAF (36290), aged 35. Burial location unknown.
Air Gunner - Lt Antonin Lacharie Chemin FFAF (814), aged 31. Burial location unknown.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Adj Henri Chabres FFAF (37435), aged 27. Burial location unknown.
Air Gunner - Sgt Rene Maurius Eugene Ramond FFAF (1423), aged 26. Burial location unknown.
The two who stayed with the Halifax survived the crash were:
Flight Engineer - Sgc Henri Sciolette FFAF. Injured.
Rear Gunner - Sgc Maurice Tillier FFAF. Injured.
The website "aircrewremembrancesociety.com" have borrowed two of my photographs from this webpage without asking my permission; those being the photograph of the field where the aircraft came to rest and that of the memorial in the village church (shown below). Their website originally showed the two photographs I show of the crew on this webpage but sadly the names of those shown are not yet known. What is also of interest is that the photograph above shows a Halifax coded "C", in 347 Squadron's case the code was used by Halifax NR287; the aircraft that crashed at Scawton, so it is probably the aircraft and crew involved in this accident. The photograph below shows the same crew probably with some ground crew. In November 2011 I was contacted by Henri Sciolette's daughter who supplied me the same photographs for inclusion here.
Yorkshire-based air historian Mr David Morris contacted one of the survivors of this accident in 1996. Mr Henri Sciolette was able add further details about his mishap at Scawton in a letter, he stated that after the accident and recovery in hospital he was taken to the crash site and that he saw five damaged walls caused by the aircraft passing through. One other more important addition Mr Sciolette was able to add was that Sgt Tillier returned to France after the War but was killed in a flying accident in 1947 in Indochina, Southeast Asia while flying with paratroops.
A further photograph of this crew, found on a now defunct webpage "armrel.pagesperso-orange.fr/resistants/c/chevalier.html"
Raymond Chevalier was born in March 1910. He joined the French armed forces in 1930 but later became a priest. In 1939 he was called up into the French armed forces again and served in Morocco before serving in the Algerian resistance and coming to the UK in 1943. He was initially buried at Harrogate, Yorkshire but later exhumed and re-buried in his home town of Chartres, France on 20th January 1949. He was a holder of the Knight of the Legion d'honneur, Croix de Guerre and a Resistance medal. A street in Chartres is named in his honour.
Georges Ostre trained to fly Halifaxes at 1663 HCU at Rufforth and while he was staioned there on the 25th May 1944 he was the pilot of a Halifax that crashed on landing. At that time of this incident Bill Chorley reports in his excellent series of losses books that "HE HAD LOGGED AT LEAST 4,330 HRS OF SOLO FLYING" but at the time only sixteen of these hours were on Halifaxes. A remarkable total of flying time. I understand that he was a vicar before the War.
In June 2012 I was contacted by Jean-Louis Chemin, son of Lt Antonin. He was able to add that his father had already flown around a thousand hours as a pilot with 1/25 Squadron in the Middle East before joining 347 Squadron as a bomb aimer on it's formation in June 1944.
A photograph taken at the time of the crash and published in the out of print "White Rose Base" book by Mr Brian Rapier. I have other photos of the crash site but given the inability of "aircrewremembred.com" to drop me a brief email to say that they were using my other photographs I show here I am loathed to add more.
In the years after the crash a memorial plaque was paid for by the French authorities and was placed on the tree that stopped the aircraft. The tree later died so the plaque was removed and placed in Scawton Church. Every year on Armistice Day the name of those who died in this accident are read in the village. Scawton Church porch and the plaque.
The crash site is situated in this area. Historians Ken Reast, Albert Pritchard and Eric Barton sought permission from the then landowner in January 1998 and located fragments of the aircraft on the location to confirm where the bulk of the aircraft came to rest. Exactly where the aircraft initially struck the ground is not yet known, although there are walls that border the Scawton to Hambleton road that are proud of the surrounding land that may well be where it struck.