On 8th November 1946 the two crew on board this aircraft were undertaking a daylight training flight out of their base of RAF Leeming in Yorkshire, they had taken off at around 11.00hrs. During the flight the aircraft flew across the North Yorkshire Moors and entered thick cloud, while flying in cloud the pilot lost control and the aircraft dived into the ground at high speed on Pockley Moor, some miles to the north of Helmsley and exploded leaving a large crater. Although never proven because of the destruction of the aircraft it was strongly suspected that the effect of icing had occured on the aircraft's control surfaces and the pilot's ability to keep control of the aircraft was greatly reduced. This icing effect also altered the aerodynamics of the wings of aircraft and often resulted in them entering an uncontrolled dive under certain cloud conditions. Because of the time of year this icing effect could (and probably was) the factor in this accident occuring.
Through correspondance with local people extra information has come to light; Mr George H Clark of nearby Birk Nab Farm and his brother were working in fields near to the farm when they saw the aircraft come out of cloud at a very steep angle and was very low. Mr Clark then saw the aircraft crash into the moor just over a mile away. He and his brother then made their way to the scene to try and assist the crew but it was clear that they had been killed instantly. Engines of the aircraft buried themselves in the moor but are believed to have been dug up since the 1960s either by Mr Ward, of Chop Gate, or a York based organisation headed by Brian Rapier. Small cast alloy fragments that remain at the crash site today would suggest that at least one of the engines was badly smashed as a result of the crash.
Mosquito NT266 was built to contract 1/576 by D.H Ltd at Leavesden and delivered to 218 MU at Colerne on 18th November 1944. It was issued to CFE at Wittering on 11th December 1944 before being transferred to 54 OTU at Charterhall on 17th May 1945. It moved with the unit to East Moor in November 1945 and moved with this unit to Leeming on 7th July 1946. It was written in the incident detailed above with Cat.E2/FA Burnt damage being recorded and it was struck off charge months later when the paperwork was finally completed on 3rd July 1947.
Pilot - S/Ldr Noel Dan Hallifax RAF (33404), aged 27, of Warren Mayfield, Sussex. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Trainee Navigator/Radar Operator - F/O Roy Edward Chater RAFVR (194286), aged 21, of Sidcup, Surrey. Cremated Mitcham, South London.
Noel "Dan" Hallifax and his gravestone at Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery. To add a little background information into Dan Hallifax's life, he trained at Cranwell and was granted a permanent commission in the RAF with the rank of P/O on 17th December 1938. In the early months of the War he was a pilot serving with 3 Squadron but during the Battle of France, whilst undertaking a patrol aboard Hurricane N2422 on 15th May 1940 he was shot down after combat an Me-110 near Zeebrugge, he survived the incident but was captured and became a prisoner of war. He was promoted to the rank of F/O (war subs) on 17th June 1940 and rose to F/Lt exactly a year later. Although little of his early years as a PoW are not know he must have been a handful for his guards as he was sent to the infamous Colditz Castle. The photograph above of him is taken from a website dedicated to Colditz Castle "Colditzcastle.net". He arrived at Colditz on 14th November 1942 and left there on 7th January 1945 and was repatriated but continued RAF service. He rose to S/Ldr on 1st October 1946 (Gazetted 1st November 1946) having being made a Temporary S/Ldr on the 1st July 1943 while he was a PoW. His name while at Colditz was recorded as the more common variant of his name as "Halifax".
The site of crash on Pockley Moor as it was in 2010. This crash location was one of the first that I visited before really being interested in the stories behind the accidents. I first visited the site in 1995 with Ben Thompson and Steve Sutherland and it pretty much resembled much what is shown on the photograph above. Since then I have paid the site a number of visits and with this location been widely known of and recorded in a number of books the quantity of remaining wreckage appears decreased on every visit.
The majority of the remaining wreckage at the crash site today, undercarriage sections.
The only part number that I could find the last time I visited the site in March 2013.
As previously stated, this crash site has been one of the most widely visited sites on the North Yorkshire Moors for many years. Because of this there was (and still is) a tendancy for bits to be taken away by some visitors. Since the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 came into being such activities without an MoD licence are illegal but prior to 1986 a number of groups carried out digs at the site and a number of these people have been kind to contact me. Brian Rapier's York-based group was one such group and the photograph above shows a propeller found during his visit. Mr Tony Agar's Mosquito rebuild, now on show at the Yorkshire Air Museum, includes parts found at the Pockley Moor crash site and it can therefore be seen that such recovery work done years ago has been put to good use in this rebuild which is a fantastic achievment.
This was the site as it was found by Mr Adrian Morris when he visited the site in May 1977. Very different than it is today. My thanks to him for contacting me and for this photograph.
Little is known of his navigator Roy Chater other than he received his commission on 20th July 1945 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency). He was promoted to F/O on 20th January 1946 (war subs).
