At around 06.50hrs on Saturday, 11th September 1937 this 233 Squadron aircraft took off from Thornaby airfield with its crew instructed to carry out a Home Fleet exercise over a wide area off the east coast of Scotland. The crew of this aircraft carried out their task and made their return south with the aim of returning to Thornaby and they passed Newcastle just before 10.00hrs, the weather became poor as they flew south and thick fog was present towards the mouth of the River Tees. The crew making their way along the coastline towards the Middlesbrough area to return to Thornaby airfield and it was thought that the navigator had missed the turn inland when over the Tees estuary because of the poor visibility. Flying at a height of 750 feet the aircraft passed over Guisborough, but it was later believed that those on the aircraft mistook Guisborough to have been Greatham as the two towns looked similar from above and in the bad visibility the mistake could be made. The aircraft flew over Guisborough at low height and ploughed into the hillside above Belmont Mine at 10.45hrs killing all four on board instantly. Local people had heard the plane fly over just before the accident and also heard the engines fall silent after the resulting crash, many local people made their way up onto the moor to try and locate the site which they could not see because of the fog from the town below. Nothing could be done for the airmen, they were certified dead at the scene and were later carried down from the moor and taken to the Admiral Chaloner Hospital in Guisborough where they lay until removal for burial.
An inquest was held and a verdict of accidental death was returned on all four young men, the papers for the inquest are now held in the North Yorkshire County Records Office, these papers stated that first on the scene of the crash was Harry Carey who was a poultry farmer living at Spring Farm, Belmont. He was working inside buildings there when he heard an aircraft flying very low over the buildings and he believed that the engines seemed to stop suddenly so he went outside and looked towards the hills but because of thick fog he could not see clearly. He thought that he could see something on the hillside so immediately ran up the hill and found the wreckage of the Anson, he then found the bodies of three of the crew before anyone else arrived but nothing could be done for them, they had been killed instantly. Soon after Mt Carey arrived at the site George Wilson of Hunters Hill Farm arrived, he too was working in buildings at Belmont Mine but he had gone outside as soon as he heard the low flying aircraft but he lost sight of it because of the fog but heard the engines stop. Believing it was too low to clear the hills he went up the hillside to look for the aircraft. Both Carey and Wilson gave the time of the crash at being around 10.35am. Soon after George Wilson arrived at the crash site Dr.Gibson from Guisborough arrived at the site and confirmed that all four airmen had died. At the inquest Dr.Gibson was not called to given a statement but Dr.Thomas Pratt, also of Guisborough was, he stated that he had heard of the crash at 11.25hrs and went to the site of the crash where he examined the airmen and believed their injuries would have resulted in instantaneous deaths. S/Ldr Wallis, No.233 Squadron's Commanding Officer gave evidence at the inquest stating that he had found the navigating log at the crash site and believed that the crew had carried out their task and were returning to Thornaby but that the aircraft had not crashed due to a fuel shortage as the Anson's range was much more than the distance it had just flown. During this inquest it was also stated that the captain and navigating officer of the aircraft was P/O Lowden. Although the captain, it was thought that he had not been the actual pilot at the time of the crash. It was also said that because of the weather and very poor visibility the airmen would take turns to be the pilot. Thornaby's Commanding Officer stated that McDonald and Munro would have taken turns in flying the aircraft on this flight but exactly which trades each airman had is not yet known on the list below.
Anson K8778 was built to contract 497338/36 by A.V. Roe Ltd at Woodford and was allotted to 233 Squadron on 20th May 1937. It was taken on charge by 233 Squadron at Thornaby on 25th May 1937. The aircraft sustained Cat.W/FA damage as a result of the accident on 11th September 1937 and was struck off charge on 17th September 1937 with total flying time of 93.40 hours.
Navigator? - P/O Leonard William Lowden RAF, aged 21, of Westfield, Newport, Fifeshire. Buried Forgan (Vicarsford) Cemetery, Fifeshire, Scotland.
Pilot? - Acting P/O Hugh Gordon McDonald RAF, aged 22, of Salisbury, Rhodesia and late of Duthie Terrace, Aberdeen. Buried Allenvale Cemetery, Abderdeen.
Pilot? - Acting P/O David Sorley Munro RAF, aged 19, of South Street, St.Andrews. Buried Renfrew (Arkleston) Cemetery, Glasgow.
Wireless Operator - AC1 Thomas Douglas RAF, aged 18, of Duke Road, Millfield, Sunderland. Buried Bishopwearmouth Cemetery, Tyne and Wear.
David Munro was granted a short service commission in the RAF as Acting P/O on probation on 2nd November 1936. He was posted to 233 Squadron, then at Thornaby on 30th June 1937 and was graded as P/O on 31st August 1937. The photograph above shows David Munro's gravestone in Arkleston Cemetery, Glasgow. My thanks to C.J. Dickie of Perthshire for this photograph. He may well have trained as a civilian pilot gaining his Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate but the entry in Flight Magazine confirming this has not yet been located.
Photograph via Mr David Earl and Mr David Thompson.
Anson K8778 crashed in the area shown in this photograph, as seen in May 2014. It is the same area as shown bottom photograph (or bottom-right photograph - depending on your monitor size) of the two old photographs directly above this one with the larger tree trunk in the dead centre being close to where the centre section of the aircraft came to rest.
This hinge was one of the items found at the crash site in May 2014 by Mark Sheldon and I, the "R3" markings signify the part as being manufactured by Avro.
This small piece of silver painted fabric (shown left) was found at the crash site in May 2014 and comparing it to same fabric (shown right) on the piece below picked up at the crash site soon after it crashed it shows how preserved this fragment was in 2014. The fragment shown on the right was picked up at the crash site soon after the crash and was kept, the photograph was kindly provided by Mr Tony Johnson formerly of Guisborough.
Leonard Lowden was trained at RAF Cranwell and completed his course on 18th December 1936 receiving a commission in the RAF as P/O. He was firstly posted to the School of Air Navigation at Manston prior to being posted to join 233 Squadron in May 1937 (then at Boscombe Down). He was the Station Adjutant at Thornaby at the time of his death and so an article in December 2003 edition of Aeroplane magazine recounts, his kit was auctioned off to his fellow officers which was common practice at the time. Nothing more is known him.
Hugh McDonald was posted to 233 Squadron on 7th August 1937.
