At 09.15hrs on 6th September 1945 this aircraft took off from Brough airfield with a crew detailed to undertake a cross country training exercise with No.4 Elementary Flying Training School. Flying the aircraft was a pilot undergoing a refresher course and a navigator. As part of the training flight the aircraft was flown north and over the Vale of Pickering but when they arrived there the weather was poor. Low cloud was also covering the area of the North Yorkshire Moors further to the north. As part of the navigation exercise the aircraft should have flown roughly over Kirkbymoorside but because of the poor visibility and having entered cloud the crew became lost and the aircraft drifted north of their intended route. After circling in cloud for some time the pilot opted to descend through the cloud to gain a visual fix on his position but while descending the aircraft struck the ground on Spaunton Moor. The flight had lasted fifty five minutes with the aircraft probably overturning when the wheels hit the ground first. The two airmen in the aircraft were lucky, they survived the crash. The aircraft was later deemed too badly damage for a repair and was written off. Evidence at the site suggests the RAF burnt it on the site to dispose of it.
Tiger Moth N6793 was built to contract 778402/38 by DeHavilland at Hatfield and was delivered to the RAF in April 1939. After acceptance it was issued to 13 E&RFTS at White Waltham. This unit was redesignated as 13 EFTS in September 1939 and remained active until it disbanded in 1941. The aircraft is believed to have been on their charge throughout this period. After a period of MU storage the aircraft was issued to 21 EFTS at Hucknall on an unknown date. After another period of storage it was finally issued to 4 EFTS at Brough from where it served until suffering this accident detailed above. Cat.E2/FA(Burnt) damage was the damage assessment and it was written off.
Pilot - F/Sgt John Stanley Carter RAFVR (1399805). Injured.
Navigator - Sgt Peter William Barsby RAFVR (1866264). Slightly injured.
John Carter was born on 4th August 1921 at Belfast, Northern Ireland. In the 1939 Register he was living at Halesowen, Birmingham and was listed as a theological student. He was possibly living with his mother Frances G S Carter at that time. He appears to have left the RAF in this post-war period and became a church minister. He married Dorothy Lavinia Edwardes on 4th July 1952. They later moved to Cape Town, South Africa. He became Rt Rev Bishop John Carter, Bishop Suffragan of Johannesburg, and died on 5th June 2002.
His older brother F/Lt Charles Bindon Carter RAFVR (132348) DFC DFM was killed on 25th September 1944 serving with 98 Squadron. He was a rear gunner in Mitchell FW194 that was shot down over Arnhem and the aircraft crashed into a dyke. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
Peter William Barsby was probably the young man listed in the 1939 Register as being born on 2nd December 1924 and was living at Blyth, Suffolk. Someone of the same name died at Littlehampton, West Sussex in November 2007.
In January 2004 John Skinn and I first located the site. Much of what we found that remained at the site that was either in a shallow depression or was scattered around the moor close by. A fire must have happened at some point after the crash, probably the result of the RAF clear-up team setting fire to what remained of the aircraft to get rid of it. There is a small collection of melted alluminium set into the peat and other burnt remains were found nearby. An amount of wood was found in the shallow depression and has either suffered from heather burning or was also damaged in the crash as it shows signs of burning, it is also in poor condition because the depression fills with water when it rains.
The collection of wreckage in the depression at the crash site, this hole may have been created by the propeller striking the ground at the time of the crash.
What appears to be some form of wing or tail formers and modelled by my wife Caroline.
A small manufacturers inspection stamp found on a small fragment of wreckage.
The area where the wreckage was probably set on fire.
I returned with mini-me in Spring 2023 with no apparent changes to the site or condition of the artifacts.
