Blenheim L1252 (photo Jim Rutland).
On 26th October 1938 the crew of this aircraft and at least one other from the same unit were undertaking a practice bombing raid and using Carlisle as their
target. Both aircraft set out from Upper Heyford in the south of England and headed north and landed at Driffield airfield, this was probably so they could refuel.
They took off again and headed north-west and while over the Pennines they encountered poor weather and the two aircraft became seperated. It was thought that
crew of this aircraft had opted to turn back and head for Catterick or had lost control in the cloud after turning to instrument flying. Over high ground and
in bad visibility the aircraft iced up and lost height. Being over high ground loosing height put the aircraft in danger and it crashed soon afterwards with
the three on board were sadly killed. The crew of this aircraft were the squadron's first casualties since converting to Blenheims from Hinds.
Pilot - P/O John Owen Sowerbutts RAF, aged 25. Buried Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator (Observer) - AC1 William Ashbridge RAF (566675), aged 21. Buried Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire. ORB states he was a Fitter.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner U/T - AC2 Horace Redfern RAF (551643), aged 18. Buried Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire.
The three airmen were returned to Catterick and were buried alongside one another on 29th October 1938 at the village cemetery.
John Owen Sowerbutts was born in Barnoldswick, Yorkshire in 1913 and was the son of Charles and Mary (nee Jones) Sowerbutts. His parents had married at Ruthin in 1911 and his father had been bank manager of the London Joint Stock Bank at Barnoldswick but had contracted tuberculosis shortly after his marriage. He spent some time recovering thought managed to return to work but then died in Cheshire in May 1915. John was a well known rugby player of his day, playing for the RAF and Blackheath, he also took part in the second and third English international trials in the 1936-37 season. He had a younger brother Charles William Sowerbutts who was in the RAF in 1938.
William Ashbridge was born in Lamplugh, Cumberland in 1917 and was the son of William James and Annie (nee Dyer) Ashbridge. In the 1921 census his father worked for (or had worked for) the Lamplugh Mining Company.
He had an older sister called Irene who married in the Crosby area in 1940 to Thomas Rimmer.
Horace Redfern was born in Holywell, Flintshire in 1920 and was the son of William John and Emily (nee Jones) Redfern. In the 1921 census his father was a boiler stoker for a silk manaufacturer and they lived at Pen-y-Bryn, Halkyn. They later moved to the St.Peter's Estate, Holywell. As a child Horace attended school at Halkyn and then Holywell before joining the RAF and training at Cranwell as a wireless operator.
My wife and I visited the crash site on the 70th anniversary of the incident. The remaining amount of wreckage is large considering that it was a pre-WW2 incident, though much of what
remains is probably wing and fuselage skin sections.
A plate fitted to part of a wing or tail section showing the date of manufacture of June 1938.
Part of the aircraft undercarriage.
A section of the aircraft bomb bay.
Aircraft part collector Ken Ward visited this crash site many years ago, recovered and preserved what appears to have been the vast majority of the engine components and other
rare items including the control column. These he allowed me to photograph in his collection in 2010.
I visited the site again in June 2009 to get some better photographs.
