Botha L6160 near Horsforth / Rawdon, Leeds.
On 24th May 1940 this aircraft was being ferried from Brough airfield near Hull, to Silloth airfield, near Carlisle. The pilot encountered poor weather not long after taking off and made a landing at Yeadon airfield.
Because of the poor weather he remained on the ground at Yeadon for the rest of that day and stayed the night there. On 25th May 1940 the weather appears to have improved so he took off again to continue the flight.
The precise details still remain unclear at the time this webpage was last updated as the events appear to have happened in poor weather. Not long after taking off from Yeadon he was flying in the Horsforth area and
flying in cloud, realising he was flying towards two houses on a hill he made a banked turn to the right but collided with the a stone wall. The pilot sadly died in this accident in the Layton Road area. A rough location
in the Layton Road area has been found but as yet no precise details on where the aircraft have been found to enable any photographs of the general area to be shown here. If Layton Road is correct then the site is
nearer Rawdon than Horsforth.
Pilot - 1st Officer John Taverner Wilson Clark ATA, aged 28. Buried Aireborough (Yeadon) Cemetery, Yorkshire (sec.E/842).
John Croswella Taverner Wilson Clark was born in London on 9th April 1910 and was the son of Henry William Alfred and Mary Ida Bundock (nee Wilson) Clark. His mother was from New South Wales, Australia. On his
baptism at St.Peter, Hammersmith on 30th August 1910 his name was spelt John Crosswaller Wilson Clark, with his family living at No.2 Ravenscourt Mansions. He married Norah Ford
Penny in Kensington, London in 1934
In August 1934 he was sentenced to several months in prison for leaving the scene of a motoring accident
toward the end of the 1930s he appears to have taken jobs at various civilian airfields in the North of England, being at the Yorkshire Air Club, Yeadon in 1939 then Lower Bebington, Cheshire in September 1939.
but when he joined the ATA he is listed as being single
Paul W brother
In the 1921 census he is listed as being a boarder at Feltonfleet Preparatory School, Cobham, Surrey
lark is listed as being of Meaos, Pinkney's Green, Berkshire and being married. John C T W Clark and married .
He learnt to fly at the Herts and Essex Aero Club Ltd, gaining his Royal Aero Club certificate on 10th September 1938 (Cert.No.16265).
I credit Jim Corbett with the photograph of him shown above. I visited and photographed his grave.
barrie uxbridge 1937
minnie i f romford 1940
"little girl" born 1934
Botha L6160 was built to contract 563935/38 by The Blackburn Aeroplane Company Ltd. at Brough. It was allotted to 12 MU on 16th April 1940 but this was then cancelled and on 10th May 1940 it was allotted to
No.1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit, at Silloth, and a few weeks after the unit had formed. On 23rd May 1940 it was collected from Brough by a pilot of No.3 Ferry Pilot Pool, ATA, who was tasked to fly
it to Silloth. On 24th May 1940 when it crashed at Horsforth. Cat.W/FA damage was the damage assessment and it was struck off charge.