Fortress AN522 near Catterick Bridge / Gatherley (broke up in air).
A Boeing Fortress of the same batch as AN522, this photograph shows AN528 (but with the AM528 marking), the batch of twenty aircraft was incorrectly
given the "AM" prefix which was later corrected to "AN". AN522 was built at the Seattle factory and initially registered in the USA as 40-2053 before
transfer / allotment to the RAF on 19th February 1941. It was on the books of 90 Squadron on 7th May 1941 though appears to have passed through the
Servicing Aircraft Section (SAS) at Burtonwood Repair Depot possibly so they could have a look at it or kit it out with RAF gear before it was
issued to an RAF flying unit. At the time of the accident it had flown a total of 66 hours and was written off with Cat.E/FA damage as a result
of the flying accident recorded below.
On 22nd June 1941 this 90 Squadron aircraft took off from West Raynham at 16.10hrs with the purpose of the flight to allow physiological research and tests to be done at high altitude. On board alongside the crew of five airmen were two senior medical officers in the rear of the aircraft and a further qualified pilot who was to take temperature readings in the cockpit cabin. The aircraft was to fly at an altitude of 30,000ft so that a problem resulting in oxygen masks freezing was to be investigated and an assessment of the energy used by air gunners while in combat was also to be monitored. An hour after taking off and while flying between 30,000 and 31,000 feet the aircraft entered a large cumulo-nimbus cloud. The temperature in the aircraft was estimated to have dropped by some 20 degrees and pieces of ice began to enter through the open rear gun ports. After around a minute of flying in these conditions the aircraft entered a steep and high-speed dive after control was lost while flying in this very turbulent weather. The pilot was able to regain some control briefly and was able to begin to pull out of the dive but before the aircraft fully pulled out of the dive the forces on the airframe were too great and the port wing spar failed at around 25,000ft. The port wing broke off at around the port outer engine nacelle and this was followed by the disintergration of the aircraft in the air at 17.10hrs. None of the six crew in the front of the aircraft stood and chance with none able to attempt to abandon the aircraft because of the forces involved and they went down with the aircraft. The two medical officers in the rear of the aircraft had both been able to reach their parachutes and clip them onto their harnesses, one of these officers became wedged by the port guns and although the other man was able to free him he then abandoned the aircraft through the starboard gun port and landed safely. The other medical officer remained unable to get himself clear of the aircraft and he also went down with the aircraft. Because of the height this aircraft broke up at the wreckage was spread over a wide area from the region of Catterick racecourse in the south-west and in an area extended to some six miles north-east of Catterick Bridge. The port wing section was found towards the north-east end of the trail while much of the cockpit section, the engines and most of the fuselage was found nearer the south-west end. Part of a wing section was found resting against the rear of the Farmers Arms pub at Catterick Bridge and further fragments of the aircraft were in the fields beyond this pub, this wing section was photographed at the time and is known to have existed locally until the 1980s.
There is a reference that the aircraft had begun it's journey that day at Massingham airfield at 14.30hrs flying the short distance to West Raynham to pick up passengers and crew for the test flight. Prior to taking off the weather report was consulted and it was known that there was poor weather forecast in Pennines and in an area to the east of them, with thunderstorms predicted. At the time of the crash large hailstones were seen on the ground and a heavy thunderstorm was present over Catterick airfield. Given the crew knew that the further north they flew the likelihood of flying into a thunderstorm was possible it was never known why they had chosen this flight path. The crash investigation had found that the pilot's oxygen regulator had been adjusted to a maximum setting, this was probably due to mosture in the pipes begining to freeze at 33,000ft and restrict his supply, his regulator was probably turned up to allow more oxygen to pass through. It was possible that as his oxygen became restricted his judgment became impaired. The investigation interviewed the survivor, the investigation also found the aircraft intercom was not switched on so any communication between the cockpit aircrew was not known to the two at the rear of the aircraft.
The internet yields a number of incorrect accounts which vary greatly from the details found in the RAF crash investigation found in the UK National Archives. With respect I would suggest there are many inaccuracies in some of these accounts; ranging from it being on acceptance trials for the RAF, to breaking up because of severe icing, and a poorly researched date being 14th June 1941! A number of accounts also link F/Lt Humpherson as being the pilot of AN522; true he was a qualified pilot but was not piloting this aircraft. While I doubt this webpage tells the whole story it is believed to show only correct information.
Research by Mr Jim Rutland in the Middleton in Teesdale area has found a local man who recalls that part of a "B17" bomber crashed on moorland in that area, with no
known USAAF aircraft coming down in the region there is a suggestion that it may have been from AN522. Although there is no reference to any wreckage falling away
from the Catterick area in the official RAF crash investigation found in the UK National Archives Jim's findings are similar to the location given in casualty reports.
This casualty report talks of the wreckage being spread over a very wide area of moorland some ten miles north of Catterick. This is slightly confusing in itself, there
is no moorland ten miles north of Catterick nor is there in the Catterick Bridge area. The Middleton in Teesdale area would be a minimum of some
twenty miles north-west of Catterick. I add this reference here in the hope that someone else can supply further information about these memories. The location given
in the police report is the area around Catterick Bridge / Gatherley and these reports are generally very accurate. Those who were involved in this incident were as follows..
Pilot - F/O John Charles Michael Hawley RAF (42002). Aged ? Buried Dishforth Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Second Pilot - 1st Lt Follett Bradley Jnr USAAC. Aged 24. Buried Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, USA.
Observer - Sgt Horace Philip Black RAFVR (915945), aged 19, of New Haw, Weybridge, Surrey. Buried Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator - F/Sgt George James Garwood RAFVR (701916), aged 22, of Dagenham, Essex. Buried Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Thomas James Wills RCAF (R/53359), aged 20, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Buried Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Scientific Observer - F/Lt John Bernard William Humpherson DFC RAE (RAF) (39317), aged 24, of York? Buried Heslington Churchyard, Yorkshire. (qualified RAF pilot). RAF Physiology Lab.
Scientific Observer - S/Ldr David Alan Hoper Robson MB Ch.B, (RAFMS, West Raynham) RAF (23394), aged 32, of Wallington, Surrey. Buried Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Scientific Observer - F/Lt William Kilpatrick Stewart AFC RAFMS, RAE. Abandoned aircraft and uninjured. Doctor in RAF Physiology Lab.
John Humpherson was granted a short service commission into the RAF and took the rank of Acting P/O with effect of 21st December 1936. He was confirmed in the rank of P/O on 12th October 1937. He had flown with 32 Squadron before posting to 607 Squadron who he flew with during the Battle of Britain. His DFC was Gazetted while in the rank of F/O on 30th August 1940 for service with 607 Squadron, the citation reads.. "This officer has led his section, and on occasions his flight, with great skill. During operations in France he destroyed two enemy aircraft and possibly another three. Since returning to England he has destroyed a further four enemy aircraft. He has displayed courage and initiative and has proved an excellent leader." Latterly he was made F/Lt on 3rd September 1940.
The photograph above shows Follett Bradley Jnr (photo found on the internet through Byron Hurst). Bradley was born in 1916, he was made 2nd Lt on 1st October 1938 and promoted to 1st Lt on an unknown date thereafter. Following his death it is probable that he was initially buried in the UK but later his body was returned to the USA and buried at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. At the time of his death he was recorded to have flown over 2000 hours, of which 500 hours were on the Fortress. His father was Major General Follett Bradley in the US Army and had served in the military from 1912. He is buried with his son.
Horace Black was born in Dorking, he attended Woking Grammar School prior to enlisting. The photograph of Horace Black was located on a superb website detailing Woking Grammar School's wartime casualties.
Gravestones of the remaining four of the crew killed in this incident.
Thomas Wills was born on 11th December 1919 in Chicago, Illinois, USA and was the son of Thomas James and Rella Wills. As a young man he studied music at Yale University. He moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada with his family in 1939 and listed his occupation as a professional musician when he enlisted for RCAF service in late-1939. There are a number of gaps in his RCAF service file. He was given the rank of P/O on 2nd January 1940 and started pilot training but then "retired from the RCAF" on 17th February 1940 so lost his commission. He then re-enlisted into the RCAF for General Duties on 2nd March 1940 but two months later re-mustered as aircrew and to train as a wireless operator / air gunner. He married Mary Isobel Brown in December 1940 just before going overseas and arrived in the UK the same month. Following training at 11 OTU he was posted to 115 Squadron on 8th April 1941. He was then posted to 90 Squadron on 5th May 1941.
John Hawley was granted a commisison to the rank of Acting P/O on probation on 6th March 1940, and was graded as P/O on probation on 6th January 1940. Exactly a year later he was made F/O. He began his service flying in December 1939 and joined 90 Squadron in May 1941. At the time of his death he had flown over 500 hours and 54 hours on the Fortress type. Given he was buried at Dishforth and must have flown operationally before posting to 90 Squadron I suggest that perhaps he had spent some part of his service at Dishforth, possibly as a Whitley pilot there. It is possible that he was from the Rotherham area of Yorkshire.
David Robson was made F/Lt on 3rd April 1940, being a common name his other promotions have yet to be found in the London Gazette.
The life of William Stewart is very well documented. He was granted a commission of F/O on 18th July 1939 and was promoted to F/Lt on 18th July 1940, he was awarded the AFC, Gazetted on 1st July 1941. He rose to the rank of Air Vice-Marshal, AVM Stewart CB, CBE, AFC, QHP, B.Sc, MB, Ch.B, MRCP and died after a long illness on 1st May 1967 in RAF Hospital Uxbridge aged 53. At the time of the Catterick incident his roll in the RAF was researching the factors resulting in black-outs of aircrew in dog fight manoeuvres. He also took part in the experimental program on the design and development of oxygen systems, on the effects of heat and cold and on decompression sickness and of the effects of acceleration and deceleration on the body. He had a Gladiator aircraft converted as a flying labratory to he could act as the guinea-pig for a number of these tests, he flew in the region of 300 test flights and came close to blacking out on a number of them. After the War he interviewed many returning PoW's and found that many aircrew were killed after being unable to get clear of aircraft which had been damaged by enemy fire, many of these deaths could have been avoided if the airmen could seperate themselves from gyrating aircraft. Very similar to his own experiences in getting clear of AN522. His work in this field was a contributing factor to the invention of the ejection seat and the forces which ejecting aircrew would be able to survive. He was appointed commander of the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine in May 1958 and under his command the Institute was expanded. His CB was awarded in The Queen's Birthday Honours list in June 1964. On 5th July 1966 he was appointed Honarary Physician to The Queen. The "Air Vice Marshal Stewart Memorial Lecture" is given in his honour.
