Wellington HZ303 at Huntington, York.
This Wellington is reported as being Wellington HZ303 on another website, however this cannot be true as
the coding "KW" was a 425 Squadron aircraft not a 429 Squadron aircraft which HZ303 belonged to.
The crew of Wellington HZ303 took off from East Moor airfield to give it an air test at 15.10hrs on 14th April 1943, they
headed north and turned back to fly south roughly over Kilburn, near Thirsk. The aircraft then headed back south over their
base and to the outskirts of York. While over Huntington the aircraft went into a spin before loosing power on both
engines at 1000 feet. The aircraft was probably too low for the crew to bale out and it crashed into the centre
of the village of Huntington at 16.10hrs, it ploughed through two houses not far from near the village church and
the wreckage caught fire with the being crew were killed in the crash. Two civilians also lost their lives as a result of this
accident, they were probably in the houses when they were struck.
The aircraft was so badly destroyed that the cause was impossible to determine, although engine
failure was not ruled out.
On 9th April 1943 this aircraft had suffered very minor flak damage to it's port side on Ops but it was repaired
and back on Ops the following evening, the damage was not logged on its record card as the repair was completed
by ground crew at East Moor. Whether this repair was later worked upon and the airtest was then to test this repair
at the time of the crash it is not known.
Wellington HZ303 had completed only two operational flights when this incident at Huntington occured.
It was built to contract 92439/40 by Vickers Armstrong's Ltd at Blackpool and was delivered to 38 MU at
Llandow and after acceptance was issued to 429 Squadron at East Moor on 1st April 1943. Damaged was
recorded as Cat.E2/FA Burnt at Huntington in the incident detailed above.
Pilot - F/O Charles W G Gray RAFVR (124868), aged 26, of Edinburgh, cremated Edinburgh Warriston Crematorium.
Nav - F/O Leslie A Walker RAFVR (129766), aged 21, of Aberdeen. Buried Aberdeen Springbank Cemetery.
Bomb Aimer - Sgt Cyril Marr RAFVR (1095055), aged 22, of Heaton, Newcastle-on-Tyne. Buried Byker and Heaton Cemetery, Newcastle.
WOp/Air Gunner - Sgt Willie J Whittaker RAFVR (1219858), aged 21, of Cottingley Bridge, Bingley, Yorkshire. Buried Bingley Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Rear Gunner - F/Sgt Robert E Clark RCAF (R/50428), aged 21, of Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. Buried Sutton on the Forest Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Civilian - Jane Raby Freer, aged 89, burial location unknown.
Civilian - Henrietta Morley, aged 73, burial location unknown.
Civilian - Clara Jane Pickard, aged 70, burial location unknown.
The house was re-built on the crash site in the years after the War and given the name "Phoenix Cottage".
F/Sgt Clark's headstone. On 17th April 1943 Sgt Clark was interred at Sutton on the Forest Cemetery, F/Lt Lowry was assisted
by Rev Canon Coombs, the village rector, an escort from the RAF Regiment was provided and Sgt Clark's body was carried to his
grave by fellow 429 Squadron Air Gunners.
Leslie Walker received his commission to P/O on probation (emergency) on 28th August 1942
and rose to F/O (war subs) on 28th February 1943.
All airmen had reported to 429 Squadron from RAF Lossiemouth (OTU) on 15th March 1943.
F/O Gray had a total of 233 hours flying time to his name when this accident occured with 83 hours being on the Wellington type.
He was commissioned on an unknown date but almost certainly in 1942, and rose to F/O on probation (war subs) on 3rd January 1943.