Spitfire LF.16 TE229 near Hutton Cranswick.

On 27th June 1946 a fighter affiliation exercise was carried out over the skies over East Yorkshire by aircraft from the Central Gunnery School, based at Leconfield. This involved a fighter aircraft acting as a dummy target in flying around and making simulated attacks on a bomber aircraft to give those in the bomber training and experience in swinging their guns, and the attempts to be recorded by cine-camera. Spitfire TE229 served as the attacking aircraft and Wellington BK214 was the larger aircraft carrying a number of crew including one person who must have simply gone for a ride to get air experience as he in the ground trades. While flying in good visibility and at around 4,000 feet over the Hutton Cranswick area the Spitfire made a pass on the Wellington but unfortunately struck wings. The Spitfire lost a wing and dived into the ground into a clover field with the body of the pilot found close by with a partly opened parachute suggesting he had attempted to bale out. The Wellington burst into flames in the air, having lost control it crashed around 100 yards from the Spifire in an ajoining field just north of the wartime airfield. The wing of the Spitfire fell into the garden and onto the greenhouse of a property in the village, it narrowly missed Mrs R H Wilkinson and her grandaughter Miss Joan Conder. At their inquest it was considered likely that the pilot of the Wellington had managed to steer the bomber away from the village. The crash sites appear to have been on the west side of the village and one may now be under a nursery.

The accident rate at the Central Gunnery School after the War wasn't great, three occurred in the space of a month with too many lives lost. 27th June 1946 at Hutton Cranswick mid-air collision with six killed, 24th July 1946 at Wykeham lost control on fighter affiliation exercise with five killed, 26th July 1946 Appleton le Moor, mid-air collision with four killed.

Pilot - F/O James Edward Harrison RAFVR (181799), aged 21. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (G.L.16).

James Harrison's grave at Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery.