On 30th November 1942 this 25 Squadron aircraft was being flown on a night flying test but during the afternoon. The visiblility on this afternoon was poor. Twenty five minutes into the flight at 15.00hrs the aicraft was back in the Church Fenton area and flying with the port engine shut down. Whether this was down to the pilot practicing flying on one engine or whether it had failed is not known. After making an approach to land at Church Fenton they overflew the runway with the wheels and flapped down the aircraft and appeared to have overshot the landing slightly. The pilot opted to make an overshoot of the landing, applied power to the good engine and began a climb away to begin to fly a circuit of the airfield and try again to land. While flying at around 500 feet the aircraft was allowed to turn into the dead engine, it then stalled and then crashed about a mile west of the airfield. Sadly both airmen in the aircraft died as a result of the crash; the pilot was killed instantly while the navigator died while being transported to York Military Hospital. Both men were from Cheshire although from searching the birth registers it appears both were born in Lancashire. Church Fenton ORB briefly records the incident and stated that it occurred while the crew were on a non-operational flight.

Pilot - P/O Raymond Peake RAFVR (116101), aged 22, of Higher Poynton, Cheshire. Buried Poynton Churchyard, Cheshire (new/61).

Navigator - Sgt Thomas Richardson Parry RAFVR (1134677), aged 20, of Wallasey, Cheshire. Buried Rake Lane Cemetery, Wallasey, Cheshire (19c/14)