Whitley Z6975 near Scruton, Leeming.
During the evening of 13th March 1942 the crew of this 77 Squadron aircraft had left Leeming at 18.16hrs to undertake an operational flight to Boulogne. At 23.25hrs the aircraft was almost home when it stalled on the approach to land at Leeming and, after striking the roof of Grimescar House, Scruton it crashed nearby. The wreckage caught fire. Four of the crew were killed in the crash and the fifth member died the following day at Catterick Military Hospital. The crash investigation found that icing conditions acting on the airframe may have given wrong airspeed readings and the pilot was unaware that the aircraft was about to stall. Ice formations on the windscreen were also to blame which limited the pilot's visibility. The Hunter family, who lived in the house had a luck escape, they would then move out with the house eventually being demolished.
Whitley Z6975 was built to contract 106962/40 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd. at Baginton and was awaiting collection on 8th August 1941 and was taken on charge by 77 Squadron at Topcliffe later the same month. 77 Squadron moved to Leeming on 5th September 1941 and there it remained until sustaining the crash on 13th March 1942. After this crash Cat.E2/FB Burnt damage was the assessment.
Pilot - F/Sgt John Lyndon Moore RCAF (R/78024), aged 28, of Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA. Buried Leeming Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Second Pilot - Sgt James Ernest Church RAFVR (1376275), aged 27. Buried Leeming Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Observer - Sgt Kenneth Clarence Edward Corke RAFVR (930297), aged 24, of Pinner, Middlesex. Buried Leeming Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/Sgt Richard James Lewis RCAF (R/56875), aged 24, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Died 14/3/42. Buried Leeming Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Air Gunner - Sgt Neil Shaw Smith RAFVR (967591), aged 28, of Pollokshields, Glasgow. Buried Cathcart Cemetery, Renfrewshire.
F/Sgt John Moore's gravestone in Leeming Churchyard, the photograph shown to the right is also of a pilot F/Sgt Moore and is believed to be the same man. He was born on 6th July 1913 at Honea Path, South Carolina, USA and was the son of Menard Lyndon and Janie (nee Long) Moore. As a young man he briefly attended the University of Alabama in 1932 and 1933 and then worked as a car salesman. He married Elizabeth Berry in Spartanburg, South Carolina in January 1937. He travelled to Canada to enlist into the RCAF in Toronto on 5th October 1940 and after training in Canada he was awarded his pilot's wings on 16th May 1941. Arriving in the UK in July 1941 he trained at 19 OTU before posting to 77 Squadron on 20th September 1941.
Richard Lewis was born on 8th April 1918 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and was the son of James Hammelsten and Grace Harris (nee Oke) Lewis. From 1935 until 1940 he worked as a stockman and salesman for a company in Winnipeg. He enlisted for RCAF service on 16th April 1940 in Winnipeg and trained as a wireless operator / air gunner in Canada. He was awarded his Air Gunner's badge on 13th December 1940 having first undertaken wireless operator training. On arrival in the UK he would train at 16 OTU, No.1 Signal School and 10 OTU before posting to 77 Squadron on 20th August 1941. He became engaged to be married while in the UK. Following the crash on 13th March 1942 he was taken to and then died in Catterick Military Hospital the following day.
Two further graves of members of this crew buried at Leeming.
