Avro 504 C700 near Tadcaster aerodrome.
During the afternoon of Tuesday, 3rd September 1918 five aeroplane of No.38 Training Depot Station undertook a formation flying exercise over the Tadcaster area, near to where they were based. Capt Scott, 2Lt Talbot, Lt Woollard, Lt Arnold and Flt Cadet Hale were all flying solo. Avro 504 B8762 and Avro 504 C700 collided during the exercise and both pilots were killed in the resulting crashes at around 14.00hrs. Exactly where each aeroplane fell is unclear. B8762 / Lt Arnold's fell into a cornfield, possibly crashing inverted and the pilot was found dead extracted. C700 / Woollard's crashed into the top of a thirty foot high tree, the pilot was thrown out and became caught on a branch some distance in the air. It took some time for rescuers to obtain a ladder and climb to him but he was also found dead when rescued. The pilots' death were registered in the Wetherby district which is the only indication of the approximate area of the crashes.
Pilot - Lt George Frederick Woollard RAF, aged 22. Buried Keighley (Utley) Cemetery, Yorkshire (C.U.105).
George Woollard was born on 17th July 1896 in Keighley. He initially served in the 6th Battalion Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment and must have enlisted in 1914. He entered France on 14th April 1915 and later received a commission on 13th February 1916. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps possibly as late as February 1918. He joined the RAF when it formed in April 1918 and the RFC folded and was posted to No.68 Training Squadron at Tadcaster in May 1918. No.68 Training Squadron later folded and No.38 TDS formed out of it and No.14 Training Squadron.
