Hurricane V7168 near Whitby.

At 16.00hrs on 8th October 1941 the pilot of this 55 Operational Training Unit Hurricane was forced to make a crash landing near Whitby due to engine failure whilst on a training flight. The Hurricane's engine cut out after the pilot switched to the reserve fuel tank. He landed with the wheels up but the aircraft was not seriously damaged and was later repaired. The pilot survived. The location of where this forced landing occurred is not yet known.

Hurricane V7168 was built to contract B85730/40 by Gloster Aircraft Ltd at Hucclecote. It was delivered to the RAF in January 1941 and after acceptance issued to 260 Squadron at Skitten. It was later transferred to 55 OTU at Usworth on an unknown date where, in the incident detailed above, it suffered Cat.B/FA damage. It was repaired and returned to service and issued to 5 FTS at Ternhill in early 1942. 5 FTS became 5 (P)AFU at Ternhill on 1st April 1942 and the aircraft continued to serve until being shipped to the Middle East but the date for the transfer is not known. It was later struck off charge on 28th August 1944.

Pilot - Sgt John Bernard Hurley RCAF (R/74321), of Vankleek Hill, Ontario, Canada. Uninjured.

John "Jack" Hurley was the son of Mr and Mrs Cornelius Hurley of Venkleek Hill. He enlisted into the RCAF in 1940, trained at No.10 SFTS in Dauphin, Canada between 4th May 1941 and 15th July 1941 and went overseas in August 1941. At the time of the forced landing at Whitby he had a total 150 hours flying time to his name with 19 hours on the Hurricane type. After completing his training he was later posted to fly in Libya and later in Ceylon and was credited with shooting down at least one Japanese aircraft while stationed there. He received his commission in late 1943. He survived the War and died on 10th November 1995 in Ontario, Canada at the age of 74.

Back to 1941 monthly table.

Back to North Yorkshire Moors table.