Airco DH.4 B5514 near Catterick aerodrome.
On 1st May 1918 this No.52 Training Squadron aeroplane was being flown on a training exercise when, soon after taking off from Catterick aerodrome, the engine began to fail. The pilot attempted to turn the aeroplane back to toward the aerodrome when it stalled, turned on to it's back and dived into the ground.
Pilot - 2Lt John Garwood McDonald RAF, aged 23. Buried Renfrew (Arkleston) Cemetery, Renfrewshire.
John McDonald was born on 3rd May 1895 in Glasgow. He initially served in the Royal Army Service Corps and he went to the front in France on 27th July 1915. In 1917 he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps as a Cadet and was granted a commission in Autumn 1917 to the rank of Second Lieut on probation once he qualified as a pilot. He was then posted to No.49 Training Squadron in January 1918 and then to No.52 Training Squadron at Catterick on 10th February 1918.