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 Spitfire AR440 Webpage.
Pilot - F/Sgt Eugene Kuzyk RCAF (R/76994), aged 24, of Innisfree, Alberta, Canada. Buried Dishforth Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Edward Wilfred St.Cyr RCAF (R/55593), aged 25, of Richmond, Quebec, Canada. Buried Dishforth Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner (Bomb Aimer) - P/O Raoul Joseph Rioux RCAF (J/15938), aged 23, of Grand Falls, New Brunswick, Canada. Buried Dishforth Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Navigator - F/Sgt Donald Alfred Girouard RCAF (R/101641), aged 24, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Buried Dishforth Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Air Gunner - F/Sgt Joseph Raoul Alphonse Boudreault RCAF (R/62814), aged 25, of Sept Iles, Quebec, Canada. Buried Dishforth Cemetery, Yorkshire.
The photograph above shows the general area of the Black Bull. In July 2003 Cecil Cook showed me where the Wellington crashed which he believed was in the area contained in the photograph below. The railway line is no more and in 2003 a golf course used much of the area around the Black Bull public house. The aircraft itself crashed on the edge of what had become this golf course. I express my thanks to Mr Cook for spending an enjoyable morning with me (who has since died) and thank Mr Rodger Dowson (of the Beck Isle Museum) for putting me in touch with him. In the years since 2003 the golf course closed and the land is now a private land. The crash site was dug by a Bilsdale-based aeroplane parts collector who recovered at least one engine and the aircraft's tail wheel unit but when this occurred is not known.
Wellington BJ695 was built to contract 124362/40 by Vickers Armstrong's Ltd. at Chester and was received by 18 M.U. on 15th July 1942. The aircraft was taken on charge by 425 Squadron on 25th July 1942 who had formed at Dishforth on 25th June 1942. The aircraft flew only training sorties until the accident near Pickering on 22nd September 1942 that saw Cat.E damage be the damage assessment and it was written off. The aircraft was struck off charge a few days later on 25th September 1942.
Part of the Dishforth Cemetery plot containing the graves of the crew of Wellington BJ695.
Joseph "Alphonse" Boudreault was born on 30th September 1917 in Sept-Iles, Quebec, Canada and was the son of Joseph and Anna (nee Montigny) Boudreault. Sept-Iles is the place that the Google Street-View van got to before turning around and in the early 1940s was also regarded as being pretty remote, to date this is the remotest home-town in Canada I have found while researching Canadian airmen. During his training one of his assessors also made mention that as he had travelled such a great distance to enlist and train in the RCAF. After leaving school he worked as a telegraphist, in an electrician's shop and latterly as a post master's assistant at Baie Comeau, Quebec. He enlisted for RCAF service on 24th August 1940 in Baie St.Paul and initially began training as a pilot but switched to train as an air gunner. He was awarded his Air Gunner's badge on 22nd December 1940 and served in Canada until January 1941 when he left for service in the UK. On arrival in the UK he began training at 7 AGS on 21st March 1942 and was posted to 23 O.T.U. on 5th May 1942. He was then posted to 425 Squadron on 7th July 1942.
Eugene Kuzyk was born on 28th May 1918 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and was the son of Alexander and Katherine (nee Pshyk) Kuzyk. He also had a brother and sister and the family later moved to Innisfree, Alberta. As a young man he worked in his father's general store buisness in Innisfree, Alberta and also worked as a mechanic and truck driver for another company. He was one of a small band of Polish/Ukrainian-Canadians who served in the RCAF. He enlisted for RCAF service on 18th December 1940 in Edmonton, Alberta for mechanic ground duties but either remustered as aircrew soon after or was assessed and then selected for aircrew training. He began pilot training in December 1941 and was awarded his Pilot's Wings on 13th September 1941. On arrival in the UK in January 1942 he was immediately posted to train at 23 OTU on 13th January 1942 and later to 419 Squadron on 24th June 1942. His posting to 429 Squadron was brief as he was then posted to 425 Squadron on 12th July 1942. At his death he had a total of 214 hours flying time, with 76 hours on the Wellinton MkIc type and 20 hours on the Wellington MkIII. His father, "Olexa" Kuzyk, made the plee after his death that "On the occasion of your Easter festival, I ask you, his brothers in-arms, to remember and to pay tribute to him and to all Ukrainian-Canadians who have laid down their lives in this war for the cause of freedom and democracy. I humbly ask you to be so good and kind as to care for my son's grave; and on the first possible occasion, please lay a wreath on it."
Donald Girouard was born on 20th June 1917 in Somerset, Manitoba, Canada and was one of ten children born to David and Emma (nee Labossiere) Girouard. As a young man he studied at the University of Manitoba and at the Institute of Applied Science, Chicago. He enlisted into the RCAF on 23rd April 1941 at Winnipeg and after training was awarded his air observer's flying badge on 17th January 1942. He married Lena O'Donovan in Winnipeg in March 1942 and went overseas to the UK the following month. On arrival in the UK he trained at 23 OTU posting to 419 Squadron on 24th June 1942. He was then posted to 425 Squadron on 12th July 1942. The photograph of him shown above was found on "www.veterans.gc.ca". CWGC state he was an air gunner, his service records state that he was an air observer.
Raoul Rioux was born on 2nd June 1919 and was the son of Jean and Marie (nee Laforge) Rioux at Drummond, New Brunswick, Canada. The family later moved to Grand Falls, New Brunswick, Canada. He enlisted for RCAF service on 14th October 1940 at Edmonton, Alberta and following training in Canada was awarded his air gunner's flying badge on 19th September 1941. He arrived in the UK before the end of 1941 and trained at No.1 Signal School and 23 OTU before posting to 419 Squadron on 24th June 1942. He was then posted to 425 Squadron on 12th July 1942.
Edward St.Cyr was born on 21st February 1917 at Lac Long, Quebec, Canada and was the son of Donat and Donalda (nee Brule) St.Cyr. The family later moved to Richmond, Quebec, Canada. He enlisted for RCAF service on 12th October 1940 at Quebec and after training in Canada he was awarded his air gunner's flying badge on 13th October 1941. He arrived in the UK before the end of 1941 and trained at No.1 Signal School and 23 O.T.U. before posting to 419 Squadron on 24th June 1942. He was then posted to 425 Squadron on 12th July 1942.