Whitley Z6931 in Harrogate.

On the 12th of September 1941 the crew of this aircraft were returning from Ops to Warnemunde, thick fog was covering much of Yorkshire on this night and the crew had become lost. Eventually the aircraft ran out of fuel and at 06.00hrs the crew baled out. The aircraft crashed into Duchy Road, Harrogate and near the Majestic Hotel. The crew landed safely.

Pilot - P/O George F Lambert RAF (63419), of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.

Sgt Cooper

Obs - Sgt Geoffrey S H Mott RAFVR (922320), of Bishopston, Bristol.

Sgt Thompson

WOp/AG - Sgt Frank V T Cairns RAFVR (909970), of New Barnet, Hertfordshire.

P/O Lambert was involved in a mishap at Plainville to the north of York on 31st May 1941 in Whitley Z6660 and is detailed here .

Lambert was commissioned on 3rd April 1941 and made a P/O on probation. Exactly a year later he was made F/O on probation and later posted to 35 Squadron. He evaded capture in April 1943 after the 35 Squadron Lancaster he was piloting was shot down by a night-fighter over France. This action saw four of his crew killed and two others become PoW's. As F/Lt he was awarded the DFC, gained with 35 Squadron on 16th June 1944. The Citation reads.. "In air operations this officer has displayed skill, courage and determination of a high order. He has completed a large number of sorties including attachs on such targets as Berlin, Turin, Frankfurt and Cologne. His keenness has always been evident and his determination to bomb his targets successfully has won much praise".

As a S/Ldr he was killed only weeks later with 35 Squadron when, on 5th July 1944 Lancaster ND731 crashed near Villeneuve-St-Georges. He is buried Emance Communal Cemetery, France.

Sgt Geoffrey Mott was lost on 30th November 1941 flying with 58 Squadron in Whitley Z6507 on Ops to Hamburg. He is listed in the Runnymede Memorial and was 26 years old. His brother also died on active service.

Frank Cairns was born in 1918 and flew a Tour with 58 Squadron. In April 1942 58 Squadron transferred to Coastal Command and information found on the internet states that he was in an aircraft that ditched during the same month. He was commissioned on 25th October 1942 and later transferred to 466 Squadron, he eventually joined P/O Hicks' crew after the death of Hicks' regular gunner Sgt E J Field on 15th April 1943 in an incident which saw Hicks awarded the CGM. On 25th April 1943 Cairns rose to F/O on probation (War Subs) and was awarded the DFC with 466 Squadron (Gazetted on 10th September 1943). In October 1943 he is believed to have been involved in a further aircraft accident which is said to have crashed near his Yorkshire base while flying a second tour, 466 Squadron ORB is available on the Australian National Archives website and there are no such incidents in this month this may relate to as during October 1943 466 Squadron were in the process of converting to Halifaxs from Wellingtons. The ORB states that he was posted out of 466 Squadron during October 1943 and this later incident may have been after he was posted away.

He remained in the RAF in the Post-War period and on 1st June 1954 he was appointed to a permenant commission as a F/Lt. He retired from the RAF at his own request on 17th July 1962. He died in Cornwall in 2002.