In all probability this aircraft had been collected from Kinloss the day before this incident and had been flown to Prestwick where it had remained overnight. It had just been allotted to No.12 Group HQ (Fighter Command) at RAF Watnall, Nottinghamshire but this was not a flying unit and had no airfield so if this was the end user the intention must have been to operate the aircraft out of nearby Hucknall airfield as
part of No.12 Group Communications Flight. The following morning at 10.24hrs on 28th January 1942 the ATA pilot set out from Prestwick to ferry the aircraft to the airfield in England where it had just been assigned. After leaving Prestwick the pilot had also probably landed at Dumfries to re-fuel and when the accident occurred he was flying a leg between Dumfries and Catterick when he flew into bad weather over the Pennines. Weather reports for January 1942 state that it was colder than average this month and in the week before this incident there had been snow and rain falling with cold and unsettled weather with frequent precipitation in the last few days of the month. The RAF's accident record cards for this incident do not give any proper reason for the eventual crash but using the Met Office's archived weather report it is highly likely that snow was on the ground on Stainmore and the hills may well have been covered in low cloud with rain or snow falling, this must have effected the pilot's visibility as he flew the common ATA route across the Pennines using the Stainmore railway line and A66 road as navigation aids. The aircraft flew into high ground in the Stainmore area near to Beldoo Hill and disintergrated with the pilot being sadly killed in the crash. Because of the time of year and the crash site being well out of sight of the road and railway line nothing was then seen of the missing aircraft for some weeks. It was simply listed as "missing".
At around 16.00hrs on 3rd April 1942 two local farmers from North Stainmore were on the moor tending to sheep when they came across the aeroplane wreckage. Both men lived in the North Stainmore area and it then took some time for them to walk down to the nearest phone that was three and half miles away. It must also be remembered that the road network over this area of the Pennines was far poorer than it is today. Brough police were notified. A party of police and Home Guard were mustered and they went to the crash site but owing to darkness the search did not locate the pilot. The following day police, Home Guard and members of the RAF from Catterick returned to the site and it became apparent this was the missing Master T8614. A digging operation began and after some considerable effort the body of the pilot was finally found and recovered from the crash site on the evening of 5th April 1942.
The RAF compiled two AM Form 1180; one on 28th January 1942 when it was simply as having an unknown fate and the second when it was found on 4th April 1942 but neither give any proper explanation as to what might have happened. This incident occurred just outside of the North Riding of Yorkshire boundary.
Pilot - 2nd Officer Richard Horry Winn ATA (M.649). Aged 41. Of Bowsey Hill, Berkshire. Buried Maidenhead Cemetery, Berkshire. His personal details are missing from the CWGC online listing.
This pilot was born Willliam Berger Horry Winn on 27th July 1900 at Fulham, London but appears to have been known as Richard Horry Winn. He was the son of William Richard Winn and Dora Janet Horry. He married Freda Mary Phizacklea and together they had four children. There appears to have been an error made in the online CWGC records stating the pilot's middle name was "Harry", the London Gazette list his middle name as Horry and given his mother's maiden name was also "Horry" this would point to Horry being correct. He served in the RAF in the early days of the service, receiving a short service commission in the RAF on 28th November 1925 to the rank of P/O on probation. He was confirmed in the rank of P/O on 28th May 1926 and was posted to 9 Squadron at Manston on 9th November 1926. He rose to F/O on an unknown date possibly in August 1927. He transferred to the RAF Reserve on 10th August 1927. He later relinquished his commission of F/O on 10th August 1931 on completion of his period of service in the Reserve. A bankruptcy announcement in the London Gazette in January 1931 stated that he had been living in Shipston on Stour, Worcestershire but at that time was living in Steeple Claydon, Buckinghamshire. In WW2 he would appear to have offered his services to the ATA and flew as a pilot in the ATA until his death in 1942.
I visited the crash site with Alan Clark, Philip Smith, Mark Sheldon, Jim Corbett and Daniel Corbett in June 2014 locating small fragments of the aircraft on Stainmore with enough items to identify the aircraft. Below are some photographs of the items we located.
A number of small fragments of the aircraft were found in a stream.
What would appear to be a Lockheed hydraulic hand pump (above) located in the cockpit next to the pilot's left leg and a fragment of the airframe (below).
A larger section of the aircraft which carries a "P.P." stamp.
Two manufacturers stamps, the "P.P." stamp above refers to Phillips and Powis which was the original company name for Miles. The marks below appear to show "M.A.L." which I guess refers to Miles Aircraft Ltd.
Master T8614 was built to contract B.44440/39 by Phillips & Powys Aircraft Ltd. at Woodley, Reading as a Mk.1A variant and is recorded as being delivered into Purgatory Storage with 5 MU at Kemble on 20th February 1941 but it is likely that the storage took place at Woodley airfield (Reading). Whilst in storage it suffered some form of damage assessed as Cat.B but the date of the reason why is not recorded in the aircraft's history. It was presumably repaired on site and remained in the store until being flown to 45 MU at Kinloss on 11th December 1941. On 8th January 1942 it was allotted to No.12 Group HQ (Fighter Command) at RAF Watnall, Nottinghamshire but this was not a flying unit and had no airfield and the intention must have been to operate the aircraft out of nearby Hucknall with No.12 Group Communications Flight. The task of transferring the aircraft from Kinloss back to Nottinghamshire (probably to Hucknall) fell to No.4 FPP of Prestwick and the leg between from Dumfries to Catterick was being flown when the accident occurred on Beldoo Hill. It must have been assumed to have crashed on route and the RAF compiled the AM Form 1180 with the aircraft as missing, it also stated, in error, that No.3 FPP were the unit tasked with flying the aircraft south. A second Am1180 was created when the aircraft was found on 4th April 1942 which corrected the unit to No.4 FPP but then mis-spelled the pilot's name. On paper the aircraft was struck off charge on 9th February 1942 by No.1 MPRD (Metal & Produce Recovery Depot) based at Cowley (although No.2 MPRD seems more likely as they were based at Eaglescliffe, Durham).
