Halifax at Linton on Ouse airfield.

On the night of 14/15th of July 1941 this aircraft was tasked with Ops to bomb Hannover railway station and was hit by flak over the target, the pilot was able to make the return to northern England but a number of 76 Squadron aircraft were diverted to Linton on Ouse to land because of poor weather over Middleton St.George. This aircraft suffered the same fate as another of the same unit. It overshot on landing and the pilot swerved to try and stop the aircraft running into the boundary hedge, the undercarriage then collapsed. The battle damage had pervented the pilot from selecting full-flap, it over ran as the pilot was unable to stop it in time. The named airman is given as the pilot but I believe that he was infact an observer, the pilots identity remains a mystery, it could be S/Ldr Bickford who flew with this observer at this period.

Pilot - Unknown, uninjured.

Obs - "Ireton" (P/O John G Ireton RAF (89842)?), uninjured.

Crew - Unknown, uninjured.

John Ireton was commissioned on 11th January 1941 but back dated to 24th November 1940. He injured his hand on 16th June 1941 when the escape hatch of the Halifax he was in blew off on take off for Ops to Cologne. The pilot S/Ldr Richard Bickford (mentioned in other Yorkshire incidents) turned the aircraft around and landed back at base. Only days after this mishap at Linton on Ouse he was in Halifax L9494 on 24th July 1941, the aircraft was badly damaged by flak and the shot about by enemy fighters on Ops to La Pallice. The aircraft was ditched and the crew later rescued by a French fishing boat but were taken prisoner by a German boat who had witnessed the rescue. The crew spent the rest of the war as PoWs. This was the first sucessful ditching of a Halifax aircraft.

After the War, John Ireton remained in the RAF and rose to the rank of W/C in January 1961. He was promoted to F/O while held captive on 24th November 1941.