Halifax JB844 near Sheriff Hutton.
On 19th July 1944, this Halifax took off from Riccall at 15.49hrs for a fighter affiliation exercise
and also to carry out air to sea firing over the North Sea. Outbound, just after 16.00hrs whilst flying in cloud, both
starboard engines failed. A forced landing was made to the west of Sheriff Hutton between Mill Hill Farm and Mount
Pleasant Farm with the aircraft flying in a roughly south to north direction. It touched down on the south side of
the Farlington road, lost at least one propeller in that field and continued up the
field, across the Farlington to Sheriff Hutton road and into a field on the north side of the road where upon it caught fire.
One crew member was injured in the crash and is believed to have broken his leg, he was pulled clear by other members of
his crew before the fire worsened. At 16.20hrs the East Moor airfield
Fire Section were informed that this Halifax had crashed and was burning rapidly, the crash tender attended but was back
on station by 18.30hrs.
In December 2004, I received an email from local historian, Mr Tony Wright, inviting me to attend a search for where
this aircraft had crashed. Mr E Weightman was a schoolboy at the time of the crash, his father farmed Mill Hill Farm at the
time, recalled his memories of the crash to the group. Without these I doubt I would have ever have learned the full
story. I quote.. "The plane hit the ground about half way up the field to the south of the road and clipped a tree with one wing, which
seems to have straightened it up and it slid straight up, over the road, finishing about twenty feet into the field on the
north side. One propeller ended up in the hedge on the west side of the field, where it was found some time later and
incorporated into a farm fence (it has subsequently been buried). Two engines detached and remained on the road, one a
little to the west and the other to the east. All but one of the crew scrambled out. The local policeman
was helping with the harvest at Mill Hill and ran up to the plane, with a group of council workmen who were repairing
the road after a tank convoy had damaged it and the others working on the farms. The crew seemed to have a pact to rescue
each other in case of an accident and, against the advice of the policeman, they re-entered the aircraft and freed their
comrade, although it was by now on fire and ammunition was exploding. They carried him to the entrance of Mill Hill Farm,
took a gate off and used that as a stretcher to carry him to the Farm. By then bullets were flying." The farmer at
Mount Pleasant Farm, Mr Lockwood, rescued a propeller and an axe from the site, he later took them to the
Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington where it is hoped they still remain although the museum show little interest in
displaying such items.
Halifax JB844 was built to contract ACFT/1808/C4 by E.E.C. Ltd at Salmesbury and delivered to 78 Squadron at Linton on Ouse in March 1943.
On an as yet unspecified date in 1943 the aircraft transferred to 102 Squadron at Pocklington from where it carried out Ops until being
transferred to 1663 HCU at Rufforth in early 1944. It's final move, again on an unspecified date, was to 1658 HCU at Riccall. Following the
incident detailed above the aircraft was written off with Cat.E2/FA damage being recorded.
Pilot - P/O Angus F Forrest RAFVR (172771), uninjured.
Crew possibly comprising of some of the following..
? - F/Sgt A B Anger,
? - Sgt John A Skevington RAFVR (1605146),
? - F/O D H Hudson RCAF,
? - Sgt A C Duncan,
? - Sgt J P Carey,
Air Gunner - Sgt Terence C House RAFVR (1424247), of Barry, Glamorganshire, Wales.
I visited the site in January 2004 with a local history group from Sheriff Hutton, having gained permission to
access the field where it crashed we were able to do a search of the field where it touched down and slithered across.
A number of peices of the aircraft were found.
If one airman in the list above had indeed broke his leg it is likley that a replacement was given to the remaining members of his crew.
The above named were F/O Forrest's crew when they were posted to 578 Squadron and by then must have received a replacement.
Angus Forest had only thirteen hours flying time on the Halifax at the time of the crash but he completed his training and was posted to 578 Squadron.
He received his commission on 25th January 1944 to P/O on probation (emergency), rising to F/O (war subs) on 25th July 1944 and F/Lt on 25th January 1946.
For service with 578 Squadron he received the DFC, the notification appeared in the London Gazette on 17th July 1945.
John Skevington received his commission on 26th December 1944 (189451) to P/O on probation (emergency) and rose to F/O (war subs) on 26th June 1945.
Sgt Terence House was sadly killed on 26th January 1945 and is buried in his hometown at Merthyr Dyfan Burial Ground, Barry. He was twenty two years old.
He was the rear gunner in Halifax NA574 that crashed near West Haddlesey, near Selby, Yorkshire with the loss of the whole crew. This loss will be detailed
on this website in due course but air historians Dick Barton, Albert Pritchard and Ken Reast have confirmed the location with the finding of small remains
on the surface at the crash site.
A search of the internet suggests that it was the same J A Shevington who attended Belmont School, Clayton Wickham, Hassocks
in West Sussex and a house and football captain there in 1936.
Nothing is known about the other members of this crew.
My thanks to local historian Mr Tony Wright for the copy of the witness statement taken from the village history archives and for inviting me on the day the village group
located the crash site.