During the afternoon of 8th February 1942 this aircraft was being ferried to Kirkbride airfield near Carlisle from possibly Ratcliffe airfield or Sherburn in Elmet airfield using the Stainmore gap to cross the Pennine chain of hills. At around 14.30hrs the aircraft was flying through bad weather over the Pennines when it struck high ground and the pilot was killed in the accident. The precise location of where this occurred is not yet known (by me), one location given is "Buckles Heath, South Stainmore" as is "six miles East of Brough". Nothing more about the incident is currently known. It crashed outside of the old North Riding of Yorkshire border but I have included it in this list of high ground incidents in the Pennine chain of hills.
ATA Pilot - 1st Officer William Johnston Elliott ATA (M.343), aged 24, of Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, USA. Buried Altrincham Cemetery, Cheshire.
William Elliott the son of Gernard Leslie and Louise Johnston Elliott, he was born on 18th April 1917 in Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, USA. As a boy he attended Chambersburg High School but from a young age it would appear that he wanted to fly. After leaving school learnt to fly at the local airfield at Chambersburg; Sunset Airways and would receive his private, commercial and instructor's licenses well before the outbreak of the Second World War. He would find work as a flying instructor at Chambersburg, and at the Congressional Airport in Rockville, Maryland. He enlisted for service as a pilot with the British Military around the end of 1940 with another Chambersburg pilot, Raymond Hoover, and they sailed from New Brunswick on 1st March 1941 and arrived in Liverpool on 18th March 1941. After training in the UK he served as a ATA pilot but was to have been discharges from the auxiliary service later in February 1942 and return to the USA possibly as he had re-enlisted for RCAF service. The USA were not in the War by this stage and a number of young American men joined the RCAF to serve as aircrew overseas.
Anson W1793 was built to contract B.61695/39 by A.V.Roe Ltd. at Yeadon and was awaiting collection in December 1940. It was initially allotted to the ATA HQ at White Waltham in January 1941 and was then taken on charge by 1 Ferry Pilot Pool at White Waltham later that month. It was transferred to 14 F.P.P. at Ringway on an unknown date in 1941 and was later transferred to 6 F.P.P. at Ratcliffe. As a result of the crash in the Stainmore area on 8th February 1942 Cat.E2/FA damage was the assessment and it was struck off charge on 14th February 1942.