The day after a flying accident on the North Yorkshire Moors which saw No.54 Operational Training Unit see two of their numbers being killed this training unit lost two more airmen in an accident. On 9th November 1946 all crews in aircraft from this training unit were briefed to fly above 200 feet the ground on this day. The crew of this aircraft were undertaking a "local sector recce" when the Mosquito dived into the ground at a ninety degree angle after the pilot lost control in thick cloud cover whilst returning to base from the navigation training. Prior to the crash the aircraft was seen circling over the Hood Hill area at 700 feet, it then rose into cloud before reappearing and diving steeply into the ground at 10.50hrs. No reason was ever found as to why the pilot lost control, although icing conditions were suspected nothing was proven. Wreckage was spread over a wide area with the bodies of the two airmen being thrown into an adjacent field.
Pilot - P/O Micheal James Alan Smith-Pearse RAF (58032), aged 20, of Andover, Hampshire. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Pupil Pilot (/ Passenger in ORB) - P/O Phillip Gough Norton RAF (58145), aged 19, of West Hagley. Buried Hagley Cemetery, Worcestershire (B/86).
Michael Smith-Pearse's headstone at Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery. He was born in India and granted a short service commission in the RAF on 24th May 1945 as P/O on probation. His name is spelt Smith-PearCe in the London Gazette detailing his commission. His father was Principal of Rajkumar College, Raipur, India from 1931 to 1944; this is one of the finest public schools in India.
Phillip Norton was born on 20th December 1926 at Dudley, Staffordshire and was the son of Allan Maber and Daisy (nee Gouch) Norton. He was granted a short service commission on 14th June 1946 to the rank of P/O on probation.
Mosquito MM809 was built by De Havillan at Leavesden and was dellivered new to 218 MU on 9th September 1944. The aircraft was taken on charge by 488 Squadron on 20th September 1944 but was transferred to 54 OTU on 10th May 1945. As a result of the crash on 9th November 1946 the damage was assessed as being Cat.E/FA. The aircraft was struck off charge on 6th December 1946.
Historians Eric Barton, Ken Reast and Albert Pritchard sought permission from the landowner and located small fragments on the surface of the field to confirm the location in the early 2000s. While I've been given Eric's research and notes, they do not state when they located the site.
A cockpit lever below.
