Halifax R9448 at Crockey Hill, south of York.

During the morning of the 18th April 1943 this aircraft took off with eight airmen on board, it was not a regular crew but a mix of four pilots, two flight engineers and a wireless operator and air gunner filling the seats. The exact circumstances of the flight is not yet fully known but during the flight engines were being deliberately shut down as part of the training exercise. The pupil pilots would presumably then practice flying on less than four engines and also then practice restarting the stopped engines. Whilst doing so and while flying on two engines control of the aircraft was lost, the aircraft roled at 1500 feet and then dived towards the ground. It crashed not far from Crockey Hill, to the south of York at 10.08hrs sadly killing all eight airmen on board. Research gathered from the MoD by family of one of the crew some years ago suggested that a Halifax quirk, rudder over-balance, was possibly to blame for the crash. This was when the rudder locked to one side under certain circumstances. It accounted for many airmen's deaths until a new design of tail was added to Halifax's. Once locked there was little the pilot could do to control his aircraft and it would dive towards the ground, with two engines out controlling this aircraft must only have been made harder.

Halifax R9448 saw service with 35 Squadron before being passed to 1659 HCU but while with 35 Squadron it took part in a raid on the massive German ship the Tirpitz.

Instructor Pilot - S/Ldr Howard S Hill DFC RCAF (J/15522), aged 22, of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada. Buried Dishforth Cemetery, Yorkshire.

Pilot U/T - F/Sgt Ernest W Pitt RCAF (R/116161), aged 21, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Buried Dishforth Cemetery, Yorkshire.

Pilot U/T - WO2 Robert L Locker RCAF (R/70722), aged 23, of Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada. Buried Dishforth Cemetery, Yorkshire.

Pilot (passenger) - F/O Brian T Davies RAFVR (125498), aged 21, of Weston-super-Mare. Buried Weston-super-Mare Cemetery, Somerset.

FEng - Sgt Frank O Bonham RAFVR (904699), aged 22, of Hartley Wintley. Buried Hertfordbridge Cemetery, Hertfordshire.

FEng - Sgt John L Gunn RAFVR (927129), aged 27, of Kingsby, Middlesex. Buried Dishforth Cemetery, Yorkshire.

WOp/AG - F/Sgt Eric A Clyde RAFVR (924233), aged 21, of Alkham, Kent. Buried Dishforth Cemetery, Yorkshire.

AG - F/Sgt Horace D E Messier RCAF (R/108499), aged 30, of Cowansville, Province of Quebec, Canada. Buried Dishforth Cemetery, Yorkshire.

Howard Hill was born in Montreal in 1921, where he enlisted on 9th October 1940. He was commisioned in May 1942 and went rapidly up through the ranks. He was awarded the DFC for service with 405 Squadron on 31st December 1942 and it appeared in the London Gazette two weeks later. The citation for his DFC (as researched by Hugh Halliday) is given below. It is generally assumed that he was the pilot of R9448 when it crashed at Crockey Hill, however the citation for his DFC suggests that he was either not a pilot with 405 Squadron or was flying as a 2nd Dickie pilot at the time of his actions. It could be that he was another air-trade in 405 Squadron and was retraining as a pilot when his death occured.

"This officer has shown a fine offensive spirit and in all his attacks he has displayed initiative and determination of a high order. On one occasion on returning from an operation his captain and navigator fainted owing to oxygen failure and the aircraft went out of control. He lifted the captain from the pilot's seat, righted the aircraft and piloted it until at a lower height the captain recovered and was able to take over the control. Pilot Officer Hill has set an excellent example of courage and initiative".

Sadly he lost a brother WO2 Raymond Hill RCAF was serving with 419 Squadron when Halifax DT630 was shot down only weeks before Howard's death on 3rd February 1943 on Ops to Hamburg. Research is ongoing.

Gravestones of the other members of the crew who were buried at Dishforth Cemetery, Yorkshire surrounded by some very red roses.

One of those who was buried by his family was Brian Davies. He received his commission on 7th February 1942 to P/O on probation (emergency) rising to F/O on probation (war subs) on 1st October 1942.

I was invited to search for the site by air historians Ken Reast, Albert Pritchard and Dick Barton in November 2008. Their efforts in speaking to the land owner, witnesses and the farm manager had roughly confirmed the location although one previous search some years before was in slightly the wrong area and had only yielded a large number of military service buttons. November 2008 saw the site located with enough remains located on the surface to be able to identify the aircraft type and manufacturer through part numbers and small parts of an engine. We would like to thank Ms Jane Cooper (Hobson's Farm Manager) for her time and allowing the visit. This was infact a very interesting site to have located, there were many interesting items located on the surface including a higher than average amount of "jablo" (a composite wooden propeller covering), engine components and other parts usually only seen on high-ground sites.

One of the first peices located confirming we were in the right area.

A number of service buttons were found during our visit, some were RAF but others were Army related, this RAF button may be related to this aircraft accident but it could have been attached to rags which were ploughed into the soil as was common practice to get rid of unwanted rags.

A rather bent identification plate from a tank, warmed up and slightly un-bent. Can anyone tell me what the "ALT WELLINGTON No8" means at the base of this plate?

I would like to thank Mr Leonard Gunn for contacting me with regard the loss of his uncle in this incident during the early stage of my research.