Whitley Z6870 at Topcliffe airfield.
On the 11th of September 1941 thia aircraft crashed within Topcliffe airfield boundary after the crew were practicing overshooting during a dual-instruction part of a
night flying exercise at 22.50hrs. Three of the crew were killed and two others injured.
Pilot - S/Ldr Joseph D Reardon DFC RAF (43042), aged 26, of Prince Edward Island, Canada. Buried Topcliffe Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Pilot - Sgt Harold E Moore RCAF (R/70734), aged 23, of Lawson, Saskatchewan, Canada. Buried Topcliffe Cemetery, Yorkshire.
WOp/AG - F/Sgt John W R Griffiths RAF (650725), aged 20, of Boothstown, Manchester. Buried Topcliffe Cemetery, Yorkshire.
2 crew members - Names unknown, injured.
Joseph Reardon was born in Charlottetown in 1915 and studied at Prince of Wales College and the College of the Redemptorist Order at Scarborough Heights,
Ontario before enlisting into the RAF in Augist 1939. Reardon was granted a short service commission into the RAF
on 23rd March 1940 and was given the
rank Acting P/O on probation. On 13th July 1940 he completed the probationary period and
was made Acting P/O and on 23rd September 1940 he was confirmed as a P/O. He arrived at 51 Squadron on 2nd December 1940 and
flew with them until joining 102 Squadron on 6th July 1941. He rose to F/O (War Subs) on 13th July 1941.
As Acting S/Ldr he was awarded the DFC (Gazetted on 23rd September 1941). A press article found on the internet about the award
of his DFC that he was "a steady and dependable captain of aircraft who has shown great courage and devotion to duty. Most of his
sorties were completed in winter months under adverse weather conditions."
Hugh Halliday's RCAF awarded research has been used in compiling this account alongside the London Gazette entries.
The other two graves at Topcliffe Cemetery relating to this accident.
