During the morning of 17th May 1918 this Instructor School aeroplane was being flown on a flying exercise that included practicing making forced landings, a landing was made in a field without incident. At noon the pilot attempted to take off but the field was a small one and it failed to clear the boundary hedge. Where this incident occurred is not clear but was probably in the general Redcar area. One of the pilots was seriously injured and died a week later in the Middlesbrough area, possibly at the North Ormesby Cottage Hospital where a number of the early RAF casualties appear to have been treated. The other was less seriously injured. The casualty cards for both pilots state they were with No.14 Training Squadron, based at Tadcaster. Barber's service file makes no mention of this
Pilot - Lt Victor Leslie Barber RAF, aged 18. Died 24th May 1918. Buried Redcar Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Pilot (Passenger) - Lt John Bernard Hinchcliffe RAF. Injured.
Victor Barber was born on 6th August 1899 and as a child he attended Rugby School. He started an apprenticeship at the Handley Page Aircraft Acceptance Park, Hendon in 1917 before enlisting for RNAS service in August 1917. He was granted a commission in the RNAS on 12th November 1917 as Flight Sub-Lieut. He was posted to the RNAS Flying School at Redcar on 17th January 1918 possibly to act as an instructor. He transferred to the RAF when it formed on 1st April 1918 and the unit at Redcar became known as the Instructor School. His rank is quoted in newspapers relating his death as being Second Lieut, CWGC quote Lieut. Given his service file only states his RNAS FSL rank he may well have had this converted to the Second Lieut rank when the RAF formed and therefore the CWGC are not correct.
John Hinchcliff/e was born on 24th March 1894 in the Hemsworth area of West Riding of Yorkshire. His birth and death registrations were given as "Hinchcliff" but his service file has it was the end letter "E". His service file doesn't state he ever served with the Instructor School but clearly was at Redcar. When this accident occurred his service file states he was with No.14 Training Squadron at Bramham Moor / Tadcaster with whom he was with between 23rd February 1918 and this accident, he was then discharged from hospital back there on 11th June 1918. He later went to 38 TDS and 47 TDS. He was transferred to the Unemployed List on 17th January 1919. He married in Pontefract, West Riding of Yorkshire in 1923 and died at Ackworth in May 1943.