Halifax MZ454.
In the late afternoon of the 5th March 1945 severe weather conditions were effecting flying over Yorkshire
and these conditions were not forcast prior to a number of aircraft taking off for Ops to Chemnitz and many
aircraft iced up just after leaving their home airfields. This aircraft took from Tholthorpe at 16.40hrs
and twenty minutes later it was returning to base suffering from these icing conditions when crashed
close to Little Ouseburn church. A crash investigation found in the National Archives on all the accidents on this
night refers in brief to the accident at Little Ouseburn, it states that "this aircraft had crashed in a shallow
dive as it had cut sideways through some trees. Here also was a deep crater where the bomb load had exploded.
Only one whole engine was found, the parts of the others were located. There was no sign of fire on this engine
at all but every sign of sufficient lubrication." Four of the crew were killed but three survived
after baling out at low level just before the aircraft struck the trees.
The exploding bomb load caused the severe damage to the nearby church but it was later repaired
and a memorial stained glass window in the church porch was installed in 1995. Killed were..
Pilot - F/O Arthur R Lowe RCAF (J/29556), aged 23, of USA but late of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Initially buried at Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery.
Flight Engineer - Sgt James L Lynch RCAF (R/201189), aged 20, of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Air Gunner - F/O Paul J Hall RCAF (J/43949), aged 20, of St.George's, Newfoundland. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Air Gunner - P/O John W Hyde RCAF (J/95349), aged 35, of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Survived were..
Navigator - F/O E S Brabbins RCAF (J/40690).
Bomb Aimer - F/O J F Brownell RCAF (J/40341), of Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
WOp/AG - F/Sgt K J S McCuaig RCAF (R/204103), of Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada.
The crew on board Halifax MZ454 when it crashed near Little Ouseburn. F/O Lowe's body was initially buried in
Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery but was later exhumed and returned home to the USA and he now lies in Fairview
Cemetery, Red Bank, New Jersey. Fairview Cemetery is where some of the Titanic victims were also buried.
The memorial window in the church porch at Little Ouseburn (photograph - Mr Alan Hudson).
In November 2010 Ken Reast, Dick Barton and Albert Pritchard sought permission to enter the field from the
landowners of the field shown above. The aircraft is known locally to have crashed in the small field between
Moat Hall and Little Ouseburn church but little appears recorded locally with regard the events leading up to the
aircraft exploding in this field. Later that month I was invited by them to come on with them on their visit
to the land. A number of small peices of the aircraft were located and after a series of telephone calls to other
residents a large peice of one of the aircraft's engines was found in woodland through which the aircraft had flown
just prior to crashing. While we took this engine part away to clean up and photograph it was returned to the
landowner and is preserved locally.
Two plates from aircraft ancilliaries found at the crash site.
The peice of engine we found, photographed after gentle cleaning and with the hand-held Garmin GPS for scale.
Markings found on the engine part.
I would like to thank Hillary and Anne Gregory of Moat Hall for their assistance and patience and for allowing our visit.