On 11th November 1943 the crew of this aircraft were undertaking a training flight when one of the engines failed. The pilot was attempted to land at Thornaby when the aircraft stalled and crashed in a field near Sober Hall, at High Leven Farm at 11.00hrs killing the crew of two. Cat.E2/FA (burnt) damage was recorded.
Mosquito DZ459 was built to contract ACFT/555 by D.H. at Hatfield and delivered in early 1943. After acceptance at MU it was issued to 540 Squadron at Leuchars before being transferred to 8(C)OTU at Dyce in September 1943 when the unit ceased to operate this variant of Mosquito.
Pilot - F/Lt Alan J F Symes RCAF (J/7617), aged 22, of Rockcliffe, Ontario, Canada. Buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Navigator - Sgt Edward Lyon RAFVR (1433734), aged 20, of Lathom, Buried Burscough Churchyard, Ormskirk, Lancashire.
F/Lt Symes grave at Thornaby on Tees cemetery.
Edward Lyon is buried with his brother Robert Lyon who died on 21st November 1940 while serving with the Home Guard, he was only seventeen years old.
In 1977 there was an attempt to recover items from the crash site, this included an engine, whether or not this was successful remains to be found.
In 2004 planning permission was granted to a school to be built near the site and the school field would then be created over the crash site in 2005. Air historian Mr David Thompson proposed that a memorial could be incorporated into the name of the school, or it's access roads. Permission for a exploritary trench over the site was apparently refused because of time constraints on the building and it is not known whether any naming of the roads were ever carried out.