Halifax JD419 at South Kilvington, Thirsk.

On 14th October 1943 this aircraft took off from Topcliffe in order for the crew to test the oil consumption. Soon after taking off the aircraft swung violently to port after it clipped something on the airfield and the aircraft's port wing dropped, the pilot was unable to correct the swing and he was also unable to feather the two port engines. Loosing height fast and in a left hand turn the aircraft clipped the chimney of a house (Rymer's House) in South Kilvington and at 11.25hrs crashed in an ajoining field where upon it burst into flames. The crew escaped although some sustained injuries. The aircraft was completely destroyed, damage put at Cat.E2/FA. No resaon for the swing the aircraft developed was ever established.

Air historians Ken Reast, Albert Pritchard and Dick Barton located small remains at the crash site in the mid-1990's confirming the crash location.

Pilot - F/O James D Dickson DFC DFM RCAF (J/15678), of Hampton, New Brunswick, Canada. Seriously injured, suffered lacerations, burns and concussion.

Flight Engineer - P/O Philip England Shaw RAFVR (993404), seriously injured, lost a leg.

? - F/Lt E Cook RAF - injured.

? - F/Sgt S W Dunn - injured.

James Donald Dickson was born on 29th October 1920 at Hammond River, New Brunswick, Canada. He lived in Rothesay, New Brunswick and enlisted in Moncton on 23rd October 1940. Following training in Camada he arrived in the UK on 16th August 1941, were he trained at 23 OTU before being posted to 57 Squadron on 6th November 1941. He was commissioned as Pilot Officer with effect from 25th June 1942. Following his service with 57 Squadron he was on strength of 57 OTU and 1659 Conversion Unit. He came near to being court-martialled following an accident on 8th October 1942 when piloting Wellington X3719 which hit a power line near North Luffenham, heavy damage was caused to the aircrafts nose, both propellers and starboard mainplane. He then was posted to 419 Squadron on 14th February until 14th June 1943; Whilst there he ran off runway in Halifax JB859 on returning from operations on 13th May 1943; no blame was attached. He subsequently completed two tours and had flown a total of 53 sorties (323 operational hours). He then was posted to 1659 Heavy Conversion Unit on 14th June 1943 to 29th November 1943. Following his crash at Thirsk on 14th October 1943, detailed above, He was repatriated to Canada on 3rd December 1943 where upon he went to 5 OTU at Boundary Bay before serving with 164 Squadron.

His DFM was effective 16th June 1942 as per London Gazette dated 22nd September 1942 and was presented at Buckingham Palace on the 30th March 1943. The citation reads.. "Flight Sergeant Dickson has acted as captain of aircraft on numerous occasions. Throughout his tour of duty he has executed his tasks with the utmost vigour and determination. Undeterred by bad weather he makes every effort to locate his target and to bomb it accurately. He has participated in attacks on Brest, Hamburg, Lubeck, Rostock, Essen, Emden, and many equally important targets."

His DFC was effective from 1st September 1943 as per London Gazette dated 14th September 1943, he was presented with the DFC on 2nd November 1946. The citation reads.. "This officer has taken part in a large number of flying operations. He has penetrated the defences of the Ruhr on eighteen occasions, in addition to participating in attacks on Berlin, Hamburg and Rostock. In March 1943, in the Bremen area, his aircraft was attacked by a Messerschmitt 110. The enemy fighter was destroyed by the front gunner. Shortly after, another attack was made by a Junkers 88. During the combat which ensued, Pilot Officer Dickson again displayed outstanding airmanship and again furnished his gunners with opportunities for retaliation. His skill undoubtedly made a safe return possible. Pilot Officer Dickson's sustained gallantry over a very long period has been most meritorious."

Post war he served with 435 Squadron and 426 Squadron and was awarded the Air Force Cross for services during the Korean Air Lift. He later served with 412 Squadron before his life was cut short. He died of polio in the UK on 26th July 1953. Hugh Halliday's account has been used in this brief bi-og. He was married at the time of the crash near Thirsk and had a total of 754 flying hours, 293 being on the Halifax. It seems logical that he was an instructor at Topcliffe.

Philip Shaw was born on 30th November 1919 in Aintree, Liverpool though he enlisted in Edinburgh in June 1940. After completing his training he was posted to 158 Squadron at Lissett on 2nd January 1943 where he completed a Tour as Flight Engineer to F/Lt H W Sandgren RCAF. In July 1943 he was posted to 1659 HCU at Topcliffe was an instructor. Following this accident he sadly lost his right leg and then spent some time at Harewood House, to the north of Leeds. On 19th October 1943 he was awarded the DFC although there is no record of a citation being published. My thanks to (the now late) Mr Eddie Fell for this information.