Sopwith 1F1 Camel D9538 at Beverley.
At 07.45hrs on 20th June 1918 this No.72 Training Squadron aeroplane took off from Beverley aerodrome to undertake a training exercise. It was being flown at 5,000 feet in the general area of Beverley when, at 08.25hrs, the aeroplane entered a spin. The pilot was unable to recover from the spin, lost control and it crashed. Exactly where it crashed is unclear other than it was in the Beverley area although information in his service records from witness statements suggest it was in the area behind cottages near "The Westwood".
Pilot - Lt Norman Scott MM RAF, aged 24. Buried Lancaster (Skerton) Cemetery, Lancashire.
Norman Scott was born on 21st November 1893 and was the son of Charles Edward and Alice Scott. Service papers and newspaper reports quote both 1893 and 1894 for the year of his birth. The year of birth appears to have been changed from 1894 to 1893 on his initial Canadian attestation papers and given that he is buried with his parents in Lancashire who died after him I feel they would know how old he was, ie 24 years old and 1893 being correct. He was born in Wigan, Lancashire but emigrated to Canada possibly with his brother while his parents remained in Lancashire. His father was a police officer in Lancashire. He worked as a wireless set operator for T.Eaton and Co, Toronto before the war and initially enlisted for military service on 3rd August 1915, joining the 3rd University Corps, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. He arrived in England in September 1915 and entered France on 27th November 1915 serving with the Headquarters Signalling Staff. His service file suggests that on 19th February 1916 he was wounded in action but remained in France and that he returned to the field on 8th June 1916. A newspaper report after his death stated that in June 1916 he was awarded the Military Medal for his actions as a signaller during a heavy German bombardment for maintaining communications with the first line. This was probably for a later action than that of February 1916. Notification of the award of the Military Medal was printed in the London Gazette on 1st September 1916 and it was possibly presented to him in the field. He was wounded on 17th September 1916 and sent to hospital in England to have a piece of shrapnel removed from his right thigh. For a time he was at the East Leeds Hospital, Harehills. He then spent some time recovering in England and then saw service in England, he received a commissioned 1st September 1917. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps on 24th November 1917 and begun flying training.
