Lancaster W4319 at Dormanstown, Middlesbrough.
On the night of 17th/18th December 1942 the crew on this aircraft set out from Holme-on-Spalding Moor for a mine laying operation to the Heligoland area, and
the six mines were dropped without incident. On their return the weather over the North Sea was very bad, with 10/10ths cloud was reported. With the cloud base
all the way down to sea level in places the aircraft drifted off course and ended up to far north by the time they reached land fall.
At the same time the Luftwaffe were making their attack on York (which would see two of their aircraft crash on the North Yorkshire Moors on the same night
- and detailed on this website in the Moors section). As well as this attack on York, enemy aircraft were also operating further north, incendiaries were
dropped on a Starfish Decoy site at New Marske. A short time after this, bombs were dropped near New Marske at around the same time as this Lancaster crossed
the coastline near Warrenby Ironworks. By this stage in the flight the Lancaster's IFF transmitting device had ceased to work, or was not switched on, as a
result the radar on the ground could not tell it was a friendly aircraft and given the attacks were being made by enemy aircraft at the time assumed it to be hostile.
Flying over the Warrenby Ironworks at around 250 feet the Bofur guns sited at the plant could hardly miss. Several hits were scored on the Lancaster which eyewitnesses
describe as quite literally blowing it out of the sky. The majority of the aircraft crashed near what is now Steel House, Dormanstown at 22.10hrs. The airmen on board did not stand a chance, they sadly were all killed. Immediately after the crash a message was sent from Redcar to 6 Group control stating that they thought they had shot down an enemy aircraft, it was only later that this was found to be incorrect and the truth of what had happened been discovered. Thankfully this kind of incident was not common, I
believe it to be unique to the North of England with regard the aircraft type.
Pilot - Sgt Marcel Alec Fussell RAFVR (1316055), aged 20, of Dorchester, buried Dorchester, Dorset.
Bomb Aimer - Sgt Sydney Stewart McLean RNZAF (404392), aged 29, Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Flight Engineer - Sgt Jack Worsnop RAF (568572), aged 23, of Bradford. Buried Bradford, Yorkshire.
Navigator - Sgt Monte Alan Gray McIntyre RNZAF (405298), aged 29, of Gisborne, Auckland, New Zealand. Buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Michael James O'Malley RNZAF (413278), aged 21, of Wairoa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. Buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Air Gunner - Sgt George John Warren RAFVR (1292464), aged 19, of Dagenham, Essex. Buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Rear Gunner - Sgt Gregory Manuel Georges RCAF (R/117661), aged ? of Whitman, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire.
No account of this incident would be complete without drawing the reader to Bill Norman's "Failed to Return" book in which this
incident appears in detail. Mr Norman and Mr David Morris were behind a memorial being erected close to the crash site on
18th December 2008. The plaque is sited on the Lord McGowan Bridge.
Monte McIntyre and his headstone at Thornaby Cemetery. (Photo and additional information kindly provied by Mr Ben Poynter, of
Napier, New Zealand). Monte’s parents and Mr Poynter's parents were great friends. In 1918 at the end of WW1 New Zealand (like the UK)
had a
flu epidemic with quite a loss of life including Monte’s mother. He was then about five and an only child it would have
been difficult for his father to bring him up so he lived with Mr Poynters grandparents, who were dairy farmers in Gisborne. They
already had a son and five daughters so one more was no problem for them. The 1930’s depression was a tough time for him, with
very little employment. For a time he lived with Mr Poynter's parents on a dairy farm in Waihi, but for no wages, just his keep.
When he joined the RNZAF in July 1940 his occupation was given as “Medical Attendant, Seaview Mental Hospital, Hokitika".
He started training as a pilot but obviously didn’t make it and was remustered as an Air Observer. Mr Poynter's memory of him
was when
he stayed with us on final leave, he was about six and half years old at the time and he helped him understand early
arithmetic which he was struggling with at the time. He left New Zealand for Canada in July 1941 and on to England in
February 1942 to finish his training. (It is odd that CWGC list him as a WOp/AG, and as a result the aircraft appears
to have had no navigator, CWGC appear to have made a error in Monte's case). His service records state that ""On the night
of 17th December 1942, Sgt. Mcintyre was the Navigator of a Lancaster aircraft which took off on a minelaying operation
in the Baltic sea and crashed near Grangetown, Yorkshire. The aircraft completely disintegrated and it was difficult to
identify the crew”.
Sgt Michael O'Malley RNZAF and his gravestone.
Sgt Sydney McLean RNZAF and his gravestone.
I do not know the exact location of where the aircraft crashed but it must have crashed onto the area shown on this photograph, taken from the Eston Hills.
This crew listing appears slightly different elsewhere. McIntyre is quoted as being the Wireless Operator (which his headstone shows),
Warren as Navigator and O'Malley as Air Gunner. McIntyre's service records have him down as navigator.
Lancaster W4319 was built by A.V. Roe Ltd at Manchester to contract B69274/40 and delivered directly to 101 Squadron on 21st January 1942.
The AM Form 78 states it suffered Cat.E2(Burnt) damage on 18th December 1942. It was struck off charge on 23rd December 1942 with only 17 hours
flying time made.