On the night of 7th May 1941 this 43 Squadron aircraft was returning from an operational patrol off Glasgow when the wireless set failed. Unable to obtain any homing
barings the pilot became lost and when the aircraft ran out of fuel he abandoned it over The Pennines. The aircraft crashed on Cotherstone Moor at around
03.00hrs. It is believed that the pilot landed safely. It was later stated that the pilot should have tested the radio sooner than he did after leaving the
base, by the time he tested it he was out of range. Small bits of the aircraft were found at the crash site in July 2016 to confirm the location.
Pilot - Sgt Allan Henry Haley RAAF (402054). Uninjured.
Allan Haley was born on 2nd March 1917 in Randwick, New South Wales, Australia. He was working as a plumber in Coogee when he enlisted in Sydney on
29th April 1940. On arrival in the UK he trained at 56 OTU from 17th February 1941 and was posted to 43 Squadron on 31st March 1941; the unit he was flying
with at the time of this incident near Bowes. In June 1941 he was posted with the unit overseas. He served for a time in Malta and then in
the Middle East and was slightly injured in combat on 8th November 1941. He received a commission on 15th January 1942 to the rank of P/O and later that
year he was posted to India. He was later promoted to F/O on 15th July 1942 and flew with 126 Squadron and 155 Squadron, receiving credit for shooting down
at least four enemy aircraft. F/O Haley was reported missing presumed killed while flying Mohawk BK584 on 1st January 1943 on a patrol of the Chindwin
River, Burma. An American search party later found his grave near Monywa, Burma and his body was later recovered and he is now buried in Ranchi War Cemetery, Calcutta, India.
Hurricane Z2801 was built to contract B.62305/39 by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. at either of the Kingston, Brooklands or Langley factories and was awaiting
collection on 23rd November 1940 but was immediately placed in MU storage. In April 1942 it was allocated to 1 Squadron at Kenley but was then immediately
transferred to 43 Squadron at Drem. Cat.E2/FA damage was recorded after the incident in May 1941 as recorded above and it was written off.
Back to 1941 monthly table.
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