On 14th November 1944 the crew of this 51 Squadron aircraft took off from Snaith airfield at 17.22hrs to undertake a non-operational flight, believed to have either been a training flight or an airtest. The weather on this date was recorded as poor with rain falling. After taking off the aircraft headed off in a westerly direction following a similar route of which the M62 now takes. As the aircraft passed over the Tingley area eight minutes after taking off structural failure of the airframe occurred, it fell in and around Tingley with part of the aircraft hitting houses on Balaclava Terrace; other wreckage fell in fields along Thorpe Lane and on land near the White Bear Hotel. Sadly all the crew in the aircraft were killed but remarkably there were no serious injuries to anyone on the ground.
Pilot - F/Sgt Charles William Roy Millard RAFVR (1466020), aged 23, wife of Bishop's Stortford. Buried Bishop's Stortford Old Cemetery, Hertfordshire.
Flight Engineer - Sgt William Patrick Kendrick RAFVR (3031120), aged 19, of Morden. Buried Morden Cemetery, Surrey.
Navigator - Sgt Victor Thomas Spragg RAFVR (1604485), aged 21, of London. Buried Westlake Cemetery, Surrey.
Bomb Aimer - F/Sgt Alexander Farquharson Simpson RAFVR (1551166), aged 28, of Edinburgh. Cremated Warriston, Edinburgh.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt John Hill RAFVR (1590143), aged 20, of Swinefleet. Buried Swinefleet Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Mid Upper Gunner - Sgt Alfred William Payton RAFVR (1869457), aged 21, of Ely. Buried Ely Cemetery, Cambridgeshire.
Rear Gunner - Sgt Kenneth Ernest Douglas Saines RAFVR (1802077), aged 30, wife of Hanwell, Middlesex. Buried Selby Cemetery, Yorkshire (Grave 5282).
This memorial was erected near the crash site in 1989 through the efforts of local man Mr Walter Townsend. A detailed account of this incident with Walter Townsend's witness story is to be found on the "Aircrewremembered.com" website and I would direct anyone with an interest to that webpage.
Kenneth Saines' grave in Selby Cemetery.