Magister P2493 south of Sneaton, Whitby.
On 5th August 1940, a P/O Drummond was posted to Hawarden from Digby and took this 46 Squadron aircraft to transport him there. He asked a Sgt Peacock to flying with him so that he could return the aircraft to Digby for him. The whole return flight seems to have been plagued by errors. Drummond gave verbal permission for Peacock to take off, the flight was not entered in the Authorisation book or the Commanding Officer was not informed on the time of departure. Drummond did not ask permission to take a pilot with him so that the aircraft could be flown back, his choice for this pilot seemed a strange one; Peacock had never flown a Magister before! The aircraft took off from Hawarden never the less and reached Digby, Peacock then left to make the return alone but became lost after the weather turned, and after some time the aircraft began to run out of fuel. The pilot was left with no option but to land the aircraft which he did in a cornfield near Sneatonthorpe, south of Whitby at 20.40hrs. The aircraft sustained damage; the propeller being broken. The enquiry cleared P/O Drummond from blame for the actual crash. It is not known why the aircraft ended up so far North unless the pilot was using the return flight as an excuse to overfly his home in Middlesbrough, which in itself seems stange with barrage balloons and ground defences being sited in the area. The Magister was later repaired.
Pilot - Sgt William Albert Peacock RAF(AAF) (808268).
William Peacock was born on 11th June 1920 at Seaton Carew, Durham. He joined the Auxilliary Air Force and 608 (Aux.) Squadron in January 1938 and enlisted to the RAF on 9th June 1939 and later being training as a pilot. In October 1939 he was posted to 6 EFTS, before 6 FTS in March 1940 and later a posting to 7 OTU to continue his training. He converted Hurricanes at Hawarden on 29th June 1940 and was posted to 46 Squadron on 18th July 1940 and served with them in the Battle of Britain. Just three days before his death he claimed a BF109 as destroyed. Sadly Sgt Peacock was reported missing just over a month after this incident near Whitby, when, on 11th September 1940 his 46 Squadron aircraft, Hurricane V7232, was shot down over the Thames Estuary at 15.30hrs. He was just twenty years old when he died. He is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
Magister P2493 was built to contract 778435/38 by Philips & Powys at Woodley and was delivered to the RAF in June 1939. After acceptance it was issued to 65 Squadron at Hornchurch, moving with the unit to Northolt on 2nd October 1939. It then moved back to Hornchurch on 28th March 1940 and then on to Kirton in Lindsey on 29th May 1940. It was transferred on an as yet unknown date to 46 Squadron at Digby. It sustained Cat.R/FA in the incident detailed above. After repair it was issued to 15 EFTS at Crosby on Eden. It was transferred to 21 EFTS at Booker when the unit formed in June 1941. It later spent time at 24 EFTS at Sealand and finally 11 EFTS at Scone from where it was placed
in MU storage and eventually sold on 3rd May 1949 to W.A. Rollasons Ltd at Croydon as "T2493" in error. On 10th August 1949 it was registered as Miles M.14A Hawk Trainer III, G-ALUW to W.A. Rollasons, Ltd and on 5th October 1949 its C of A was issued. The aircraft was held in storage by Rollasons at Croydon and never had another UK owner. It was sold in July 1951 to an, as yet, unknown owner from Belgium but still held at Croydon, where it was seen on 2nd August 1951 marked at OO-AJT. On 17th November 1951 it was in the Transair shed at Croydon marked OO-AJT, the owner being B. Heuvelmans. On 13th March 1952 its UK registration was cancelled. On 17th April 1952 it was registered as OO-AJT to R. Heuvelmans at Grimbergen, Belgium. On 5th May 1953 its ownership changed to C. De Paep at Deurne, Belgium. It was damaged in a crash on an as yet unknown date in 1954 and it's registration cancelled on 17th June 1956. One assumes it was scrapped.