At 20.43hrs on 23rd April 1942 the crew of this 51 Squadron aircraft took off from Dishforth airfield to undertake an operational flight to bomb Rostock. The aircraft carried a crew of four, not the regular five that were common in Whitley operations, 51 Squadron operated a number of operational flights with just a four man crew around this time. The crew bombed the target area at 02.23hrs and made for home. Flying in cloud the crew were unsure of their position as they crossed the coastline and while they had just enough fuel to make a safe landing at an airfield in Yorkshire the fuel was running low. The crew requested that they be given a priority landing using the Linton on Ouse beam but also that they be given a course to turn on to. It was thought that the aircraft turned onto the beam but 180' the wrong direction and by the time they realied the error they had flown out of range of the airfield with the remaining fuel left in the tanks. With the fuel running out the pilot made a wheels-down forced landing in a field near Hellifield at 07.01hrs on 24th April 1942 and as the aircraft was going to over run the field the wheels were retracted to stop the aircraft. The four crew escaped injury. The aircraft must have received pretty serious damage as it appears not to have been repaired following this incident, possibly as Whitleys were being fazed out of front line bomber squadron use.
Pilot - F/Lt Cyril Patrick Towsey MiD RNZAF (NZ.403480), of Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand.
Observer - F/Sgt Roderick John Heather RCAF (R/71724).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Ernest Raymond Mitchell RAFVR (1056077).
Air Gunner - Sgt David Burgess Ross RAFVR (967166).
Whitley BD190 was built to contract 106962/40 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd. at Baginton and was taken on charge by 51 Squadron at Dishforth on 15th February 1942. As a result of the forced landing at Hellifield on 24th April 1942 Cat.B/FB damage was the initial damage assessment but it was soon re-assessed as beyond repair as it was struck off charge on 30th April 1942.
Cyril Towsey was born on 2nd May 1918, he was a musician prior to enlisting into the RNZAF on 29th September 1940. He was posted to 51 Squadron on 28th July 1941 and Mentioned in Despatches for service with 51 Squadron on 17th December 1941. He later rose to S/Ldr, completed a Tour with 51 Squadron and was later posted to 40 Squadron to fly in North Africa. He was later awarded the DFC on 19th August 1943 for events in October / November 1942 when he aided in the rescue of a pilot who ditched in the sea. He lastly served with 41 NZ (Transport) Squadron flying Dakota's in the New Zealand to the Soloman Islands mail service. Through searching the internet he turned to music in civilian life. He died on 19th March 1988 in Auckland.
Ernest Mitchell was posted from 51 Squadron to 296 Squadron on 4th May 1942 having completed 13 operational flights with Bomber Command. He later completed a further 24 operational flights with Coastal Command by the time he was recommended for the award of the DFM in mid-1943. He then served at 10 OTU as an instructor and was awarded the DFM as per the London Gazette of 15th June 1943. He was later posted to 156 Squadron PFF in Summer 1943 and killed on 23rd November 1943 flying in Lancaster JB223 on Ops to Berlin. His body was never found and he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
David Ross was born on 12th February 1920. He was posted to 296 Squadron on 4th May 1942, following service with 51 Squadron he was later posted to 427 Squadron. He was granted a commission on 30th December 1942 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) (139542), he was later awarded the DFC for service with 427 Squadron, Gazetted on 17th August 1943 and the Bar to the DFC, Gazetted on 22nd May 1945. He remained in the RAF after the war transferring to the Secretarial Branch in 1949 and was promoted to W/Co on 1st July 1961 and then to G/Cpt on 1st July 1967 and there-by devoting much of his adult life to RAF service. He died at Bromley in January 1991.
Roderick Heather was born on 25th August 1922 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and was the son of Alfred Oswald and Eileen (nee Coskeran) Heather. He was fresh out of high school when he enlisted for RCAF service on 21st August 1940 in Toronto stating he wished to train as an air observer, after basic training in Canada he was awarded his Air Observer's Badge on 15th March 1941. He arrived in the UK in June 1941 and trained at 10 OTU, with that complete he was posted to 51 Squadron on 17th September 1941. He was later posted to 296 Squadron on 4th May 1942 and on 8th June 1942 he was flying in Whitley BD670(?) which landed at Boscombe Down as part of a training flight, while taxiing around the edge of the airfield the Whitley clipped a parked but unlit Hurricane slightly damaging both arcraft. No injuries were reported. He completed a Tour of operations and was posted back to 10 OTU on 7th August 1942 probably to instruct. He was then posted to 427 Squadron on 7th November 1942 and received a commission on 4th December 1942. He was still serving with 427 Squadron when he was killed on 12th March 1943 when flying an operational flight to Essen his aircraft Wellington BK164 was hit by flak and the burst killed him instantly, his crew were able to effect a return to the UK and make a landing. The then wireless operator F/Sgt Keen had his foot blown off in the flak blast and was later recommended for the Victoria Cross but this was made into the award of the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal. His then pilot was awarded the Bar to the DFC and two others awarded the DFC. P/O Heather was twenty one years old and is buried in Haverhill Cemetery, Suffolk. An unresearched part to his operational flying is that he was shot down over the sea on an unknown date and spent a number of days floating in a life raft before rescue. His brother William Morley Heather (R/119183) served in the RCAF and died in Canada in 2019 aged 102. For Roderick Heather's gravestone photograph I credit "Julia&Keld".