During the evening of 23rd September 1944 the crew of this 1664 Heavy Conversion Unit aircraft were undertaking a series of basic night circuit and landing flights. Dual instruction into how the exercise should be carried out was first given by an instructor to the trainee crew. With the instructor satisfied the trainee crew were competent to make further circuits and landings without the presence of him on board he left the aircraft after one of the landings and sent the crew to fly further identical circuits on their own. This was common training exercise carried out by Heavy Conversion Unit crews as part of their training program. The next solo take-off, circuit and landing at Dishforth was made without incident. The second solo flight was then to be made soon after and they took off from Dishforth airfield at 22.17hrs. The aircraft then proceeded to climb normally to between 700 and 800 feet, where it levelled out and began to make a right hand turn but it immediately then dived into the ground three minutes after taking off. All five members of the crew were killed as a result of the crash which occurred in a small wood near Skelton on Ure. An investigation was held into why the crash had occurred. People on the ground stated that they heard a high pitch whinning indicating a possible problem with a propeller set in fine pitch or an over revving engine. The crash site was examined and the port outer engine reduction gear could not located, while it was thought that it may have been buried deeply below the other wreckage there was also a possibility that the whole propeller unit had broken away in the air, this would cause the whinning noise and could also have caused control to be lost as the pilot had had no training prior on how to deal with this kind of problem. No proof or definitive cause of the crash was ever found. The five airmen who died were probably part of a seven man crew who had been posted to train at 1664 HCU as a crew, I have yet to learn what became of the navigator and bomb aimer who were not involved in the training exercise that killed their crew.
Pilot - F/O Edgar Albert Robitaille RCAF (J/36475), aged 22, of Outremont, Quebec, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (E/E/11).
Flight Engineer - Sgt Stanley Darlington RAFVR (1865761), aged 28, of Broadstairs. Buried St.Peter in Thanet Churchyard, Kent.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/Sgt Joseph Alphonse Clement Duhamel RCAF (R/194025), aged 21, of St.Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (E/E/9).
Air Gunner - Sgt Claudien Paul Joseph Dessertine RCAF (R/225429), aged 21, of Chambly, Quebec, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (E/E/8).
Air Gunner - Sgt Joseph Philorome Ambroise Vigneault RCAF (R/159546), aged 24, of Quebec City, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (E/E/10).
Edgar Robitaille was born on 2nd December 1921 at Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and was the son of Eugene and Marguerite (nee Carriere) Robitaille. As a young man he worked for the Royal Bank of Canada and later in advertising for the Imperial Tobacco Co.Ltd. He enlisted for RCAF service on 17th July 1942 in Ottawa and after basic training as a pilot in Canada he was awarded his pilots' flying badge, and also a commission on 1st October 1943. On arrival in the UK he trained at 14 (P)AFU and at 22 OTU before posting to 1664 HCU on 30th August 1944.
Joseph Clement Duhamel was born on 12th May 1923 at Ste-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada and was the son of Alphonse and Laura (Lemay) Duhamel. As a young man he worked as a clerk in a library. He enlisted for RCAF service on 15th September 1942 in Montreal, Quebec and trained as a wireless operator / air gunner in Canada. On arrival in the UK he trained at 1 (O)AFU and 22 OTU before posting to 1664 HCU on 30th August 1944.
Claudien Dessertine was born on 1st November 1922 at Montreal, Quebec, Canada and was the son of Claudien Benedict Joseph and Cecile (nee Clavel) Dessertine. His father was French and his mother Swiss. Both had emigrated to Canada. As a young man he worked for the Grolier Society in Montreal. In 1941 he joined the Free French Navy and was then posted to the UK. While training in the UK he then enlisted into the RCAF on 30th September 1943 in London, England. After training in the UK he was awarded his air gunners' flying badge on 21st April 1944. He then trained at 22 OTU before posting to 1664 HCU on 30th August 1944. I have yet to locate a photograph of him.
Joseph Vigneault was born on 22nd July 1920 at Saguenay, Quebec, Canada and was the son of Edouard and Olive (nee Lapierre) Vigneault. From August 1939 to October 1941 he served in teh Canadian Army in the Royal Rifles of Canada. He enlisted for RCAF service in Montreal on 12th March 1942. After training he was awarded his air gunners' flying badge on 28th April 1944. On arrival in the UK he trained at 22 OTU before posting to 1664 HCU on 30th August 1944 with the rest of this crew.
Air historians Albert Pritchard, Eric Barton and Ken Reast located small fragments on the surface in the woodland at the crash site in August 1998 with permission from the landowner, confirming the crash location. In notes Eric made he stated that the course the aircraft had flown was still visible in the woodland by a series of aged and weathered tree stumps heading out towards a field. The photograph above shows a fragment of the aircraft's radio equipment found by Eric Barton at the site.