Lancaster W4303 near Humbleton.
On the night of 23rd / 24th May 1943 this aircraft took off from Wigsley airfield at 23.23hrs for a night Bullseye training flight combined with a fighter affiliation exercise. Such Bullseye training flights were carried out by Heavy Conversion Flight aircrews (such as this aircraft which was one of 1654 H.C.U.) when they were nearing the end of their training course and involved the crew navigating to a British town or city and to then undertake a simulated bombing run on a target, the flights also tested the ground units in the specific town or city in range setting of their equipment and also in practicing with other equipment. While flying at around 10,000 feet in the area North-East of Hull just after 03.00hrs the aircraft was illuminated by a number of searchlights. Being coned in searchlights generally resulted in anti-aircraft guns being fired into the cone of light towards the aircraft. To avoid a case of "friendly-fire" the ground units in the Hull area would have expected the Lancaster to drop a coloured recognition flare around the time it was illuminated but the ground units later stated that a flare was dropped much later after severe evasive action had been taken. The violent evasive action taken by the crew to try and get out of the searchlights resulted in failing of the two tail fins, this inturn eventually caused the complete break-up of the aircraft in the air. It crashed over an area of around 1.5 miles in length near the village of Humbleton at 03.08hrs and all eight airmen in the aircraft were killed.
A memorial was dedicated in St.Peters Church, Humbleton on 29th May 2016 with relations of some of the airmen involved being in attendance. The parish council also now maintain a webpage detailing this accident.
Pilot - P/O Geoffrey Nigel James Bryde RAAF (414195), aged 30, of Fairfield, New South Wales, Australia. Buried Brandesburton Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Flight Engineer - Sgt Colin Alexander Nelson RAAF (5553), aged 23, of Northcote, Victoria, Australia. Buried Brandesburton Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Staff Navigator - P/O John Albert Walker DFM RAFVR (145851), aged 24, Buried Layton Cemetery, Blackpool, Lancashire.
Navigator - F/O Fulliott Victor Polhill Turner RAFVR (130700), aged 28, of St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex. Buried Hellingly Cemetery, Sussex.
Bomb Aimer - Sgt James Henry Roy Harper RAFVR (1393719), aged 20? Of London. Buried Streatham Park Cemetery, Surrey.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt William Neill McMullan RAFVR (1088074), aged 21, of Belfast. Buried Belfast City Cemetery, Northern Ireland.
Air Gunner - F/O Lancelot Herbert Parker RAFVR (132041), aged 27, of Bath, Somerset. Buried Bath (St.Michael's) Cemetery, Somerset.
Air Gunner - Sgt Donald Fred Smith RAFVR (1272560), aged 22, of Pentlow, Essex. Buried Pentlow Churchyard, Essex.
Geoffrey Bryde was born on 17th September 1912 in Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria and was the son of Alexander and Amy Bryde. He married Lily Westwood in 1936 but she sadly died in the same year. He was working as a school teacher when he enlisted into the RAAF on 17th August 1941 in Brisbane and was living in the village of Woodenbong, New South Wales. By the time he was posted overseas he had married for the second time and a young daughter was born in February 1942. After basic training he was awarded his Wings on 2nd April 1942 and later left Australia for the UK in July 1942. On arriving in England he trained at No.3 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit (P)AFU beginning 1st September 1942, 26 Operational Training Unit (OTU) beginning 27th October 1942, 29 OTU beginning 16th December 1942 and 1654 Conversion Unit beginning 26th April 1943. He received a commisson on 9th May 1943.
Colin Nelson was born on 26th March 1920 in Northcote, Victoria, Australia and enlisted into the RAAF in Laverton, Victoria. His service record has not been digitized on the NAA website at the time this webpage was last updated but given his un-regular service number for an RAAF airman and that he was a flight engineer I would suggest that he had goined the RAAF straight out of school in the late 1930s as a member of the ground trades, such as an airframe or aero engine mechanic. When the need for aircrew flight engineers came about a number of these techincally skilled members of ground crew then re-mustered as aircrew to become flight engineers. It looks to be a strong possibility that this happened in his case.
John Walker had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal for service with 106 Squadron, Gazetted on 15th June 1943. This was recommended for the earlier service with 106 Squadron as he received a commission to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) on 6th April 1943 but notification of this commission was printed in the London Gazette after his death on 6th July 1943. The citation for his DFM states.. "Sergeant Walker has shown great ability and enthusiasm throughout his operational tour and that such excellent results have been obtained by his crew is due in very great measure to his exemplary work. Throughout the inclement weather months he has navigated his aircraft with consistent accuracy to targets all over Germany. He has navigated to Berlin on three occasions and Essen four times and to many other targets including some in Italy. In addition, three long minelaying sorties to the Baltic were completed successfully due very largely to his brilliant navigation. Sergeant Walker is outstanding amongst the squadron's navigators and his work is deserving of the highest praise.”
Lancelot Parker received a commission on 24th October 1942 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) and was promoted to F/O on 24th April 1943.
Fulliott Turner was born on 29th October 1914, he was the son of Dr Oliver and Mrs Amy Charlotte Turner of St Leonards-on-Sea. He attended Lancing College between 1928 and 1932. He received his commission in the RAFVR to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) on 20th October 1942 and was promoted to F/O on 20th April 1943.
Lancaster W4303 was built to contract B.69274/40 by A.V.Roe and Co. Ltd. at Chadderton and was taken on charge by 50 Squadron at Swinderby on 11th October 1942. It moved to Skellingthorpe with the squadron on 17th October 1942 but was then transferred to 1654 H.C.U. at Wigsley four days later. The aircraft sustained Cat.Ac/FA damage on 7th November 1942 following a heavy landing which saw a repair on site being carried out. It was returned to 1654 H.C.U. charge on 12th November 1942. As a result of the crash at Humbleton on 24th May 1943 Cat.E2/FA Burnt damage was the damage assessment and it was struck off charge on 2nd June 1943.