Around the date of this incident 425 Squadron were working up to becoming an operational bomber squadron and their aircrew undertook many training flights of various types. During the morning of 22nd September 1942 the crew of one of their Wellingtons, BJ695, took off from Dishforth airfield to carry out a fighter affiliation training exercise. Catterick-based 403 Squadron supplied Spitfire AR440 to act as the attacking fighter aircraft to enable the Wellington's crew to practice taking evasive action and also so that their gunners could practice swinging their guns toward the fighter. This exercise was carried out over the Vale of Pickering with fair visibility but there were some patches of cloud. At that time it was a common sight in the sky in the area around Pickering and local people observed the flights so when this exercise was seen to be carried out in this area it was nothing unusual. During the exercise the two aircraft were observed by people on the ground. In 2003 I spoke to a local gentleman, Mr Cecil Cook, who was a Pickering teenager at the time and it became apparent that he witnessed this collision. He was working in fields near to what is now the Steam and Moorland Garden Centre on Malton Road. He and his friend had often watched these training flights. At 11.15hrs and flying at around 2000 feet above the ground they were watching the aircraft and noticed the Spitfire attack the bomber but that it was closer to the Wellington than usual. Normally the fighter would break off their attack some distance from the bomber but on this occasion the pilot did not turn away in time and it struck the front of the Wellington. The boys then witnessed the rear fuselage and the tail of the Spitfire break off, with the Spitfire then falling away toward the ground but they eventually lost sight of it. They also witnessed the Wellington dive into the ground nearer to where they were so they cycled the half mile to where the Wellington had crashed. It had dived onto the railway line just east of the Black Bull pub, between Pickering and Malton (and from Mr Cook's description it seemed to have crashed at an angle of about 70'). A passing Army despatch rider was already on the scene and had tried to rescue the airmen but due to the resulting fire this was impossible. They could hear voices within the burning aircraft but sadly nothing could be done and all in the aircraft died a short time later. The boys later went to see where the Spitfire had crashed, while they watched this fall in a flat spin but did not know where it crashed. They cycled down Ings Lane and found that it was nose first in Costa Beck at an angle of 90' to the water near Ings Bridge. It was clear the pilot had been killed instantly.

Information within the casualty file for this incident released in 2023 (AIR81/19462) has additional information. The collision occurred because the Spitfire had probably flown into a patch of cloud and that the pilot had lost sight of the Wellington so that when it emerged from cloud it was too close to the Wellington to avoid a collision. The collision broke off the rear fuselage from the Spitfire, and also broke off the front turret of the Wellington. Unfortunately there appears to have been one of the wireless operator / air gunners in this turret at the time. He, the turret and the Spitfire tail all fell into fields around half a mile south of where the main Spitfire crashed. Sadly the gunner in the turret was killed. The casualty file gives the Form 551 for each airman and this lists the injuries each airman sustained; all five in the Wellington are listed as having sustained multiple injuries and burns. I would suggest that whoever was in the front turret when it fell would not have received burns so there is probably an error on one Form 551. Because the Wellington was carrying one air gunner he would almost certainly have been in his regular rear turret position. On this flight it was also carrying two wireless operator / air gunners instead of the regular one, it seems reasonable to expect that one of these would have been in the front turret at the time of the collision. The Form 551 for both men lists their positions and gives P/O Rioux as acting as bomb aimer despite him definitely being a qualified wireless operator / air gunner. This may point to the other wireless operator / air gunner (Sgt St.Cyr) being in the front turret at the time of the crash though this is speculation on my part.

See also the Wellington BJ695 webpage.

Pilot - F/Sgt John Norman RCAF (R/98446), aged 22, of Detroit, Michigan, USA. Buried Dishforth Cemetery, Yorkshire.

John Norman was born on 15th June 1916 at Buffalo, New York, USA and was the son of Peter and Antonina "Elsie" (nee Kusper) Norman. His mother was born in Poland but had emigrated to the USA. The family later moved to Detroit, Michigan, USA. His father died in the 1930s and his mother later re-married. As a young man he studied at the University of Detroit, worked as a clerk and then attended a flying training college in late-1940. He enlisted for RCAF service on 20th May 1941 at Windsor, Ontario, Canada and after training was awarded his pilot's wings on 19th December 1941. He was posted to the UK soon after and following training at No.2 GTS, 9 (P)AFU and 61 OTU he was posted to 164 Squadron on 2nd June 1942. This posting was brief as he was then posted to 403 Squadron on 17th June 1942. He had a total of 199 hours flying time to his name when this accident occurred near Pickering with 110 hours on the Spitfire type. I would welcome information to give what the his middle name of "T" stands for as there is no record of his middle name anywhere in his service file, it is purely listed on the CWGC database.

I was shown the location of where the Spitfire came down by Pickering resident Mr Cecil Cook in July 2003 who has since died.

The aircraft had impacted in the river shown in this photograph but the site has almost certainly been concreted over in the creation of a small weir in the early 2000's.

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