Halifax HR783 at Crockey Hill, south of York.
On the 6th August 1943 the crew on board this aircraft were undertaking an airtest when the aircraft suffered an fire
in the starboard outer engine which resulted in engine failure. The pilot was
unable to keep control and the aircraft crashed near Crockey Hill sadly killing the seven on board including a
ground crew passenger who had gone along for the ride. No time for the incident occuring has yet been found. The engine failure
alone should not have caused this experienced pilot to loose control and it seems likely that the fire caused some other technical
fault which rendered the aircraft uncontrolable. A member of this pilot's regular crew was not on the aircraft as he had travelled to York to be
measured for his Officiers uniform. Although conjecture it would seem likely that on his way back to base at Snaith he would have passed the wreckage of
his crews aircraft at Crockey Hill, as a result W/O Percy Newland survived the war. The reason for the aircraft having
two bomb aimers on board is not known unless the reason for the airtest was something connected to the bombing system.
This was one of a number of incidents which occured near Crockey Hill during the War years. Nearest to this was the Ju88 which crashed about 300 yards away in April 1942.
HR783 was built by Handley Page at Radlett and delivered in the first week of April 1943.
Pilot - P/O Cecil A Lambert DFM RAFVR (146864), aged 29, of Redhill/Worthing. Buried Reigate Cemetery, Surrey.
FEng - Sgt Edward Watson RAFVR (1127753), aged 23, of Castletown. Buried Castletown Cemetery, Hylton, Sunderland.
BA - P/O Jack A Wilkins RAFVR (146788), aged 22, of Bristol. Buried Bristol Greenbank Cemetery, Gloucestershire.
BA - Sgt Harry J Evans RAFVR (1551799), aged 22, of East Wemyss. Buried East Wymess Cemetery, Fifeshire.
AG - Sgt Gerald A Warren RAFVR (1465627), aged 21, of Grays. Buried Thundersley Churchyard, Essex.
AG - Sgt Charles M Johnson RCAF (R/83461), aged 21, of 851 Curry Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Passenger/Gnd Crew - LAC Willie Rees RAFVR (1130993), aged 29, of Ferndale. Buried Rhondda (Ferndale) Cemetery, Glamorganshire.
Cecil Lambert, his wife Dorothy and young daughter Robin. Cecil Lambert was Commissioned to P/O on probation (emergency)
on 8th May 1943. His DFM had only just been awarded on 24th July 1943. The circumstances surrounding the award of his DFM
do not appear in the London Gazette however through information collated by the pilot's son-in-law and correspondance
with the crews regular wireless operator who was not on this aircraft when it crashed, Cecil Lambert's DFM was
awarded as a result of his piloting a badly damaged aircraft out of a searchlight and flak barrage, and continuing
on to bomb the target before returning to the England. The crew had completed twenty two operational
flights and were well on their way to a full Tour when this accident occured near York, they were also regarded
as the best crew on the Squadron at the time, with squadron suffering many losses in this period. My thanks
to Mr Chris Posnett, his father-in-law being P/O Lambert, for the photograph above and for the information
he has been willing to share with me and this webpage.
Sgt Johnson's gravestone at Harrogate.
A part number identifing it being a window fairing from this aircraft.
Albert and Ken discuss the loss with Mrs Posnett at the crash site.
Jack Wilkins received his commission on 9th May 1943 to P/O on probation (emergency).
I was invited to search for the site by air historians Ken Reast, Albert Pritchard and Dick Barton in September 2008.
Their efforts in speaking to the land owner, witnesses and the farm manager had roughly confirmed the location. The land
had been used to produce turf on so access previously had been limited. We would like to thank Ms Jane Cooper (Farm
Manager of Hobson's) for her time and allowing the visit. Whilst small scale metal detecting has to be used for searching for
these low ground sites any finds remain on site. With a site such as this located in a turf farm and detections/responses
found to be under the turf were not investigated.
In June 2009 myself, Ken, Albert and Dick were able to assist the pilot's daughter
and son-in-law, Mr and Mrs Posnett, to pay their respects at the site of where the accident occured.
