On the night of 23rd / 24th October 1942 this 102 Squadron aircraft undertook an operational flight to bomb Genoa. They took off from Pocklington airfield at 8.14hrs and during the course of the flight the aircraft had sustained minor flak damage which had burst the starboard tyre. During the return flight the starboard inner engine had failed. On the return to the UK they were unable to land at their home airfield of Pocklington so were diverted to Holme on Spalding Moor. The crew lost radio contact with Flying Control at Holme on Spalding Moor but having seen a green signal flare fired landed at 03.30hrs in poor visibility. A minute later before they could clear the runway (probably because of the burst tyre) Halifax W1181 landed on top of it and badly damaged the cockpit area of DT512. One airmen was killed instantly while another died of his injuries at 10.00hrs and two others sustained less serious injuries in DT512, no-one in the other aircraft was seriously injured. The photograph shown above depicts the terrible crash scene as day broke. The crash investigation found fault with an inexperienced member of the Flying Control at Holme on Spalding Moor, after loosing contact on the radio with Halifax DT512 he fired a green signal flare but while this was intended for the crew of DT512 as permission to land the crew of W1181 also saw it and assumed that this was intended as permission to land for them.
Halifax DT512 was built to contract B.982938/39 by English Electric Co.Ltd. at Salmesbury. The aircraft was taken on charge as new on 15th September 1942 by 102 Squadron at Pocklington, probably as a replacement for Halifax W1248 that had crashed on 2nd September 1942. As a result of the crash on 24th October 1942 involving DT512 and W1181 Cat.E2/FB damage was the assessment for DT512. The aircraft was struck off charge on 29th October 1942. It had clocked up just over fifty hours total flying time.
Pilot - W/Co Sydney Bruce Bintley DSO AFC RAF (39961), aged 29, of Reigate, Surrey. Buried Barmby Moor Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/Lt Arthur James Graham RCAF (J/5058), aged 23, of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Buried Barmby Moor Churchyard, Yorkshire. Died of injuries.
Passenger / Second Pilot - G/C Edward John Corbally RAF (26102).
Flight Engineer - Sgt Kenneth White RAF (575851). Injured.
Navigator - F/Sgt John Alexander Trager Simpson RCAF (R/69209). Injured.
Air Gunner - F/O William Burrows Vaughan-Davies RAFVR (101524).
Air Gunner - Sgt Roy Ronald Long RAFVR (1394931).
Bomb Aimer - F/Sgt Gordon Arthur Richmond RAFVR (937837).
F/Lt Graham's grave at Barmby Moor. Arthur Graham was born 20th June 1919 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and he was the son of James Winchell and Ethel Maida (nee Carter) Graham. After leaving school in Montreal he worked for a company as a radio mechanic until 1938. When he enlisted for RCAF service on 24th August 1940 he was working for a garage in Montreal servicing cars. After undertaking training in Canada he was awarded his air gunner's badge on 17th April 1941 and then received a commission the following day. On arrival in the UK in May 1941 he then trained at 22 OTU and was posted to 102 Squadron on 7th August 1941.
Both Sgt Kenneth White and F/Sgt Simpson had survived the crash of Halifax W1167 at Pocklington airfield on 13th October 1942.
Kenneth White received a commission on 15th November 1943 (53822) and rose to F/O on 15th May 1944. He transferred to the Admin and Special Duties branch of the RAF in August 1944.
John Simpson was born in London, England in 1914 but had moved to North Bay, Ontario when he enlisted in October 1940 and had completed his training in Canada in November 1941. He flew in the 25th / 26th June 1942 Thousand Bomber raid while at 22 OTU. He received a commission in December 1942 and was posted to 109 Squadron in early 1943. He was awarded the DFC for service with 109 Squadron in May 1944, and later the Bar to the DFC in October 1944.
Sydney Bintley was granted a short service commission in the RAF as Acting P/O on probation with effect from and with seniority of 9th August 1937, he was promoted to F/O on 24th December 1939 and F/Lt on 24th December 1940. He was Mentioned in Despatches on 20th February 1940. He was awarded the AFC, Gazetted on 1st January 1941 and was promoted to S/Ldr (temp) on 1st March 1942. It is likely that he was in the rank of Acting W/Co at the time of his death as there is no record of it being anything other than this in the London Gazette. He was awarded the DSO posthumously and Gazetted on 29th December 1943. The citation for his DSO reads.. "Acting Wing Commander (since deceased). This officer had a varied operational career. In the early months of the war he flew for many hours over the sea on convoy patrols, and latterly took part in attacks on some of the most strongly defended industrial targets in Germany."
Edward Corbally was born on 15th January 1909, he joined the RAF in 1927 as a Flight Cadet at Cranwell and received a commission to the rank of P/O on 27th July 1929. He was posted to 1 Squadron in July 1929 but appears to have taken a series of desk jobs in the 1930s rising to F/O on 27th January 1931, F/Lt on 27th January 1935 and S/Ldr on 1st August 1938. During the early part of WW2 he was serving as part of the Air Staff at Bomber Command HQ though later became Commanding Officer of 78 Squadron and later Commanding Officer of Pocklington airfield (when he was involved in the incident at Holme on Spalding Moor). He had risen to W/C (temp) on 1st December 1940, Acting G/C in May 1942, W/C (war subs) on 18th November 1942 and G/C (temp) on 1st July 1943. Having survived the War he remained in the upper command structure of the RAF being confirmed in the rank of W/C on 1st October 1946, G/C on 1st July 1947, A/Cdre on 1st July 1954 and Acting AVM on 12th April 1957. He finally retired on 29th April 1959 retaining the rank of Air Vice Marshall. He had been awarded the CBE on 1st January 1951. AVM Corbally CBE died on 19th November 1981 in Chichester. He almost certainly hold one of the finest records of service detailed on this website.
William Vaughan-Davies received a commission on 20th July 1941. He was awarded the DFC for service with 102 Squadron, Gazetted on 12th January 1943, the citation for his DFC mentions he had been involved in five crashes, the one to DT512 at Holme on Spalding Moor is one; Halifax W1276 at Pocklington is another. The citation reads.. "This officer is a skilful and experienced air gunner. He has displayed outstanding devotion to duty and, regardless of the five aircraft crashes in which he has been involved (on one occasion he had to swim a considerable distance to reach land), his keenness has remained undiminished. F/Lt Vaughan-Davies has participated in attacks on most of the enemy's heavily defended targets." He was later promoted to F/Lt (war subs) on 20th July 1943. He left the RAF after the war but was re-called to service in February 1947 but transferred to the reserve on 9th September 1950.
Gordon Richmond received a commission to the rank of P/O on probation on 7th February 1943 (142319) and rose to F/O on 7th August 1943 and F/Lt on 25th November 1944. He was Mentioned in Despatches in June 1945.
Roy Long was later posted to 35 Squadron and was awarded the DFM, Gazetted on 14th September 1944.