On Tuesday, 18th July 1939 the pilot of this 41 Squadron aircraft undertaking a cross country navigation exercise, he left Catterick aerodrome at 10.56hrs to fly over The Pennines to an airfield on the Western side of the chain of hills. Dumfries was quoted in the pilot's inquest where as Kingstown airfield is also quoted in a number of more modern documentations of the incident. The pilot was instructed to fly a direct route across the Pennines probably through the Stainmore gap - on leaving Catterick he passed Bowes which would suggest taking a route across Stainmore towards Brough, towards Appleby and then to Carlisle which would take him clear of the Cross Fell area. The aircraft was flying over the Appleby area when it encountered a bank of very thick fog, the pilot had been briefed to return to base if he came into cloud and it was thought that he had cleared the hills but decided to turn back towards Catterick while he was making a turn the aircraft flew back into the hills struck the ground on Great Dun Fell. The pilot was killed in the accident just after thirty minutes after leaving Catterick. Workers at nearby Silver Band Mine were the first on the seen having heard the aircraft fly overhead and then heard it crash higher up the hill. Workers set out from the mine to try and locate the site, in the thick fog this took some time but sadly nothing could be done for the pilot when they found him. The flight commander at Catterick was later blamed for this accident as he had not ensured the weather was suitable before authorizing the flight although it was also stated that the pilot probably left it too late in turning back towards Catterick in poor weather.
Pilot - Sgt Kenneth Mitchell RAFVR (740241), aged 21, of Bournemouth, Hampshire. Buried Studland Churchyard, Dorset.
Kenneth Mitchell's grave in Studland Churchyard, Dorset (photograph found on the internet). He was the eldest son of William Alfred James and Katherine Maud (nee Sharland) Mitchell. His father was born in Lanark, Glasgow but must have moved to Bournemouth. In the 1939 Register his father was listed as a Master Builder / Decorator and they lived at Cathkin, Alyth-road, Bournemouth. As a child Kenneth was educated at St.Wolframes School, Bournemouth and then Bradfield College, Berkshire. After leaving school he was employed by Vickers Armstrong at the Supermarine Aviation works in Southampton until May 1937 when he joined RAFVR. After training as a pilot he was awarded his pilot's wings in October 1938 and had twenty nine hours solo flying on the Spitfire at the time of this accident. sister Kathleen Ellen.
The crash site.
Pretty much all that remains of the aircraft at the site when I visited in 2006.
A tiny piece of bakerlite with the word "OFF" still readable, this would have been located on the instrument panel.