On 21st April 1944 the crew of this Wellington took off from Seighford at 10.40hrs to undertake a navigational training flight over the North of England as part of their training with No.30 Operational Training Unit. The weather turned poor as they flew north with visibility being reduced due to cloudy conditions. The crew became lost and were not flying high enough as they headed over high ground. The aircraft flew into the side of the Whernside at 16.15hrs and killed all but one of the crew. The survivor only received minor injuries as the rear fuselage remained pretty much intact. This incident and crash location appear to have been one of the most widely known about in the Yorkshire Dales area during the 1970s onwards and the incident is well documented in numerous books. I do not wish to copy these works.
Pilot - F/O Ernest Malcolm Barrett RAFVR (150205), aged 29, of Coulsdon, Surrey. Buried Blacon Cemetery, Chester.
Navigator - F/Lt Edward Alderson RAFVR (109107), aged 28, of Hetton le Hole, Sunderland. Buried Hetton Cemetery, Sunderland.
Navigator - Sgt Philip Edwin Lomas RAFVR (1581882), aged 21, of Tredington. Buried Shipston on Stour Cemetery, Warwickshire.
Bomb Aimer - F/O Robert Gerald Campbell Brodie RCAF (J/35532), aged 21, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Buried Blacon Cemetery, Chester.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Norman Skirrow RAFVR (2215940), aged 19, of Ripon, Yorkshire. Buried Ripon Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Ronald Charles Holmwood RAFVR (1803277), aged 19, of Hounslow. Buried Heston Churchyard, Middlesex.
Rear Gunner - Sgt Joseph Marks RAFVR (1352686). Slightly injured.
Sgt Norman Skirrow and his grave in Ripon Cemetery, Yorkshire. He was educated at Holy Trinity Schools and Cathedral Boys School and prior to enlisting into the RAF he worked for a department store in Ripon. He had joined Ripon ATC prior to enlisting into the RAFVR.
A superb studio photograph of Ronald Holmwood, kindly supplied by his cousin Mr G. Holmwood. Sadly the Holmwood family lost a son prior to Ronald's death in this incident on Whernside. Their much older son, Jack, who was thirty one years old was killed less than a month earlier on 25th March 1944 when 635 Squadron Lancaster ND704 was shot down by a night-fighter and crashed in Holland. 635 Squadron had only formed four days previously with crews from 35 Squadron and 97 Squadron.
Ernest Barrett was born on 1st March 1915 at Croydon. He was married by the time of his death in this accident. Prior to enlisting into the RAFVR he worked as a civil engineer and he also played Rugby for Birkenhead Park. He received a commission on 20th February 1943 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) and rose to F/O on probation (war subs) on 20th August 1943.
F/Lt Alderson's grave in Hetton Cemetery. He was born on 15th August 1915 at Houghton le Spring, Durham. He received a commission on 18th October 1941 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency), and rose to F/O on probation (war subs) on 1st October 1942 and later F/Lt (war subs) on 18th October 1943. His rank and period of service prior to his death in the crash on Whernside does seem to be slightly too great for him to have been a simple trainee navigator. I thank his niece for contacting me in October 2015 having visited the crash site.
Robert Brodie was born on 21st May 1922 in Toronto, Ontario and was the son of Howard and Lena (nee Sceli) Brodie. His father had died in 1929 however and he, his brother and sister were brought up by his mother. Prior to joining the RCAF he worked as an invoice and order clerk. He enlisted for RCAF service in Toronoto on 5th August 1942. He was granted a commission to the rank of P/O on 17th September 1943 and rose to F/O (temp) on 17th March 1944.
Wellington BK347 struck Whernside in this area.
Most of the aircraft was buried in a sink hole near the crash site, the photo above shows the area in 1974 on one of Graham Sharpe's visits to the site (photo Mr G Sharpe). With this being one of the most widely known about incidents in the Yorkshire Dales and with it being so close to the route of the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge walk the wreckage in the sink hole used to be very visible from the path above it. Almost all of this wreckage has now gone from the site. Should anyone reading this have any of the aircraft I would like to be able to add photographs of any items they may wish to share with this webpage.
This photo shows the same area in 2006 on my visit to the site.
Wellington BK347 was built by Vickers Armstrong and was received by 46 M.U. on 2nd December 1942. It was taken on charge by 30 O.T.U. as new on 30th December 1942. On or just before 24th October 1943 it was slightly damaged. With a repair on site being complete it was returned to 30 O.T.U. on 30th October 1943. On 21st January 1944 it was received by 13 M.U. possibly for a major service and was returned to 30 O.T.U. on 7th February 1944. It continued to serve with them until crashing into Whernside on 21st April 1944. The damage was assessed as being Cat.E and it was struck off charge on 27th June 1944