Spitfire K9846 being pushed off the production line. It was delivered to 41 Squadron on 26th January 1939.
On 6th November 1939 a Whitley was reported to Catterick aerodrome as having crashed in the North Yorkshire area; mist and patches of thick fog were down over
the Catterick area and two 41 Squadron Spitfires were asked to assist in search for this missing bomber. The pilot of this Spitfire was the first to
take off, he had not done any night flying for some four months and whilst not confirmed it is possible that he could have volunteered to take part in
this search to get some valuable experience. After gaining height to around 200 feet he initially banked right, the aircraft stalled, lost alot of height
and struck a telegraph pole in front of a house in Mowbray Road, Catterick. The RAF's crash card, the Form AM1180, mentions a possibility that there was
a glycol leak on the aircraft which may have reduced the pilot's forward vision. The wreckage caught fire and the house where he crashed into was also
damaged which belonged to the Hughes family. The second aircraft to take off was piloted by George Bennions and was already in the air by the time the
Spitfire had crashed, he returned to base and drove into the village to assist and he himself lived on Mowbray Road at the time so as he turned down the
street it appeared that his own house was on fire. Bennions own wife was attemping to rescue the pilot from his burning aircraft. Bennions lived next
door to the house which suffered the most damage. Sadly nothing could be done for the pilot of the crashed Spitfire, despite various rescue attempts
all were in vain and he died. He was buried in Catterick Cemetery some days later.
As a happy ending to this incident, the Overall family in Canada heard about the rescue attempts and the burial service, they offered to take the
two Hughes children (those being the children who lived in the house where his aircraft crashed) to Canada for the duration of the War so they could
escape the War. This offer was accepted and Maureen (then aged 12) and Tony (aged 14) Hughes sailed for Niagara Falls. Prior to one of Maureen's
daughters contacting the creator of this webpage in October 2012 it was believed that this was in early 1942 however Maureen would have been 14 had
this been the case. Maureen is still living confirms she was around 11 or 12 years old when she made the trip across the Atlantic on the last of
the convoys of Children's Overseas Reception Board ("CORB") children that included the SS City of Benares (which was torpedoed and sank with the
loss of almost all of the children on board). This convoy left Liverpool on 13th September 1940. A Canadian newspaper reported that "the Canadian
Government defrayed the costs of transportation and the children arrived safely in Toronto, where they were the guests of the Government until Mrs
Overall arrived to take charge of them". Both Tony and Maureen returned to England after the War however Tony loved Canada and returned there
permanently where he died and Maureen met a USAF airman in England and later moved to the USA with him. I would like to thank the family for contacting me.
Pilot - F/O Horace Ernest Herbert Overall RAF (39331), aged 26. Of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Buried Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Horace Overall and his gravestone in Catterick Cemetery. William Joseph Overall, Horace's father was born in Purleigh in Essex and emigrated
to Canada in 1906 with his wife and two children. The couple had another seven known children, of whom Horace is believed to have been the
youngest. Horace Overall gained his Wings in May 1937 at 10 FTS at Sywell after which he took up a Short Service Commission in the RAF. 41
Squadron was probably his first operational squadron in the UK. He was with them for some period of time and suffered a number of minor bumps
pre-war. On 6th May 1938 when returning from a fighter affiliation exercise in Fury K7280 he swung on landing in a strong wind, whilst trying
to stop the swing he braked and the aircraft tipped up onto its nose. On 3rd November 1938 flying Fury K7280 again, the aircraft stalled and
he force-landed at Leuchars. Six months later and back at Catterick, on 21st June 1939 he was flying the same Spitfire in which he lost his
life, whilst landing at Dishforth as part of a training exerise the port wing struck a mower. No injuries were reported in any of these mishaps.
If the house numbers are the same from the Wartime period then the aircraft crashed into the garden of this house.
I would also like to thank the pilot's second cousin Ms.Kate Masheder for contacting me in early 2008 and for the information she was able
to give regarding F/O Overall. She lost another cousin as a result of active service in the War. Ivan A W Gilmore RAFVR (1072498) was serving
with 211 Squadron. On 29th April 1944 he was posted as missing and is commemmorated on the Singapore Memorial. His body was never found.
Spitfire K9846 was built to contract 527113/36 by Vickers Armstrong's (Supermarine) Ltd at Woolston and was flight tested on 13th January 1939. It was delivered to 41 Squadron
at Catterick on 22nd January 1939 and moved with the unit to Wick on 19th October 1939 and back to Catterick on 25th October 1939. Following the incident detailed above Cat.W/FA damage was recorded and it was deemed beyond repair and written off on 6th November 1939.