On 29th May 1943 the crew of this 432 Squadron aircraft took off from base at Skipton on Swale near Thirsk at 22.40hrs tasked with bombing Wuppertal. On their return to Yorkshire they became lost when flying in cloud and over-flew their base. While letting down through cloud to try and work out their position the aircraft crashed onto high ground on the side of Swaledale at Fremington Edge, near Reeth, at 04.40hrs on 30th May 1943. Sadly two of the crew were killed in the crash and the other four on board were injured, some seriously. The navigator is recorded in the squadron records as being able to telephone base to inform them of what had happened. A letter found in a 1970's edition of "The Dalesman" magazine from Mr Kenneth Walker, a former member of the RAF's 40 M.U. refers to this incident. 60 M.U. was the regular RAF Maintenance Unit involved in such work so the Dalesman may have printed the wrong number. He reported that the aircraft was totally smashed after the crash and they would take some time to totally clear the crash site. They had to use sledges to drag the heavier items some distance over wet heather to the nearest road. A damaged wall was also rebuilt by them. Children from Reeth managed to get to the crash site before all the ammunition was cleared, these childen relieved the crash site of much of this and the local village policeman spent some time recovering it all. The two crew who died were buried in Ripon Cemetery on 2nd June 1943. As of 2015; a memorial was being planned to be erected at or near the crash site but whether this happened I have yet to learn.
Wellington HE553 was built to contract 124362/40 by Vickers Armstrong at Chester and was received by 33 M.U. on 2nd February 1943. It was taken on charge by 427 Squadron on 31st March 1943 and was transferred to 432 Squadron on 2nd May 1943. As a result of the crash on 30th May 1943 Cat.E damage was the damage assessment which saw it written off.
Pilot - P/O Fred Thompson Dingwall RCAF (J/17798). Aged 29. Buried Ripon Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Second Pilot - F/Lt Leslie Edwin Blight RCAF (J/3989). Aged 25. Died of injuries. Buried Ripon Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Navigator - Sgt Donald Harmon RCAF (R/131296). Injured.
Bomb Aimer - Sgt Francis James Naylor RAFVR (1462297). Injured.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Joseph David Edmond Lachappelle RCAF (R/104776), of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Injured.
Air Gunner - Sgt W Leadley RCAF (R/120994). (Possibly Sgt W R Leadley RCAF, of Manor, Saskatchewan, Canada).
Just days before this incident Dingwall, Naylor, Lachappelle and Leadley were flying at operational flight to Dortmund on 23rd / 24th May 1943 with a different navigator in Wellington HZ272. The aircraft sustained minor flak damage but the navigator was struck in the head by a piece of flak and sustained a fractured skull, he remained at his post and they returned safely to base where upon he collapsed and was admitted to hospital at Northallerton. For his actions he was awarded an immediated DFM. As fate would have it he was probably still in the Friarage hospital at Northallerton when some of his crew who were killed and injured in the crash of Wellington HE553 were admitted to the same hospital a week later.
Fred Dingwall was the son of Fred John and Charlotte (nee Thompson) Dingwall and was born on 26th December 1914 in Asquith, Saskatchewan, Canada. His parents were originally from Ontario but had moved to Saskatchewan. As a young man he worked as a butcher in Asquith and enlisted into the RCAF in Saskatoon on 27th June 1941. His parents had two other sons; Stewart Dingwall served as a wireless operator in the RCAF and Donald in the Navy in WW2. After basic training in Canada he was posted to the UK and arrived here in mid-May 1942. He further trained at 11 (P)AFU and 14 O.T.U. (at Cottesmore). On 22nd September 1942 he was flying 14 OTU Hampden AD838 when the undercarriage collapsed on landing at Saltby, just north of Cottesmore. His service file partly lists his postings after completing his training. It appears he was initially posted to 466 Squadron at Driffield on 29th October 1942 (soon after they formed), then to 426 Squadron at Dishforth on 11th November 1942 (soon after they had also formed). He flew his first operational flight with 426 Squadron as a second pilot on 7th February 1943 with S/Ldr Dowie's and his crew. His second was on 13th February 1943 also as a second pilot with Sgt McMenemy and his crew. He flew a third operational sortie as second pilot with S/Ldr Dowie on 20th February 1943 but this time Sgts Naylor, Lachapelle and Leadley were with him. Dingwall flew his first operational sortie, a mine laying flight, on 27th February 1943, Sgts Naylor, Lachapelle and Leadley were with him and appear to have been in his regular crew from now on. Their remaining operational flights with 426 Squadron were on 9th March 1943, then 23rd March 1943, 26th March 1943, 28th March 1943, 4th April 1943 and 10th April 1943. He, Naylor, Lachapelle and Leadley with navigator Sgt Collins were posted to 420 Squadron at Middleton St.George on 23rd April 1943 (Good Friday) in preparation for going overseas with them. 420 Squadron were taken off operational flying days later just prior to a transfer to North Africa but Dingwall and his crew were not selected for this transfer and were posted to 432 Squadron on 1st May 1943 on the formation of the squadron at Skipton on Swale. They flew no operational flights with 420 Squadron. They (with Sgt Collins as navigator) flew operationally with 432 Squadron on 23rd / 24th May 1943 but a flak burst close to the aircraft saw Sgt Collins hit in the head by a fragment of flak, these injuries did not prevent the crew returning to land at Skipton on Swale but it saw Sgt Collins admitted to hospital at Northallerton so he was therefore replaced by Sgt Harmon when they next flew on the night of 29th / 30th May 1943.
Fred Dingwall had married twenty year old Violet Hill on 15th May 1943 at Ripon Registry Office and she is recorded as having lived at No.9 Palace Road, Ripon at the time. Where they had met I am trying to work out but she may have been a WAAF stationed in Yorkshire (probably at Dishforth and met Fred there). Fred received a commission on 23rd May 1943 but his service file lists him as being in the rank of Sergeant when he died near Reeth so this may have been back-dated after his death. His late wife may have re-married a Delbert C Nahm in Swindon in 1946. I thank the Dingwall family for sending a photograph, via Mr C Galley, for inclusion.
Leslie Blight was born on 27th July 1918 in Ridgetown, Ontario, Canada and was the son of Alfred Samuel and Alice Marion (nee Paterson) Blight. He had an older brother and three much older half-siblings. As a young man he attended the University of Toronto gaining a degree in pharmacy and then worked in a chemist. He was living in Jarvis, Ontario when he enlisted into the RCAF on 2nd July 1940. After undertaking basic training in Canada he left for the UK. He received a commission to the rank of P/O on 11th February 1941, rising to Acting F/O on 14th April 1942, F/O (temp) on 11th February 1942 and to F/Lt (temp) on 11th February 1943. His service file lacks the information showing the unit he served with once in the UK.
Donald Harmon was born in January 1917 in Banff, Alberta, Canada. He had earlier flown with 424 Squadron. The accident detailed above occurred on his third operational flight with 432 Squadron. Both he and also Sgt Leadley returned to operation flying with 432 Squadron and Harmon was involved in a number of further tricky situations. On 3rd January 1944 he was flying in Lancaster DS830 when the throttle to one engine jammed on the return to East Moor, the aircraft swung on landing and was slightly damaged. The following night he and his crew were back on Ops to Berlin and their aircraft was badly damaged, his pilot was awarded the DFC for returning them safely to the UK. In total he completed thirty two operational flights in total. Having survived the War he returned home to Canada and took over his father's photography buisness, Byron Harmon Photos. The company is still in buisness and their website "www.harmonphotography.com" shows many of his brilliant landscape photographs. He died in August 1997, he was eighty years old.
It is likely that his brother Lloyd Moore Harmon (J/27622) also served in the RCAF and was Commended for Valuable Services with 435 Squadron on 1st January 1947. He too was born in Banff and enlisted in Calgary in April 1942. He amassed a huge number of hours in the air, some 1675 hours, of which 1100hrs were operational. He was also recommended for the AFC in April 1946, the draft for this reads.. "Flying Officer Harmon has been employed on transport duties since September 1944. Prior to joining this squadron in September 1945, he has been employed in the Middle East on transport routine services and supply dropping in the Balkans and Greece. He rendered further valuable service in India and on the Burma front on close support and supply dropping. Whilst on this unit he has been an inspiration to all by his skill and determination in carrying out schedule European services through the winter months, many of which were operated in extreme adverse weather conditions."
Francis Naylor was from Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire. He received a commission on 4th November 1943 to P/O on probation (emergency), he rose to F/O (war subs) on 4th May 1944. Sadly F/O Naylor was to be killed only days before the War ended after posting to 83 Squadron. On 10th April 1945 Lancaster ME423 was hit by flak and whilst baling out he slipped from his parachute and was sadly killed. He is buried in Nederweert War Cemetery, Holland and was twenty four years old.
WO Leadley was still serving with 432 Squadron in January 1944 when he submitted a combat report on 2nd January 1944 but nothing more is yet known about him. National Archives file AIR50/260/19 holds more information.
In June 2007 I located some small pieces of the aircraft and by doing so confirming the area of the crash. Not much remains, the sum total of three hours searching the surface were two pieces of aircraft alluminium and a three pieces of rubber. The photograph above shows the general area of where the aircraft crashed and I learn from Eric Barton that he located parts of this aircraft on the grassy side of the wall (to the left of the wall). The aircraft crashed first onto the area I found my parts and then continued through the wall to finish with it's front end almost to the "edge" itself.
A piece of Wellington geodetic structure.
Another small piece of the aircraft.