On 15th December 1942 the pilot of this 613 Squadron aircraft and another of the same unit took off from Ouston to undertake a flight to Odiham. Soon after taking off and heading south the weather effected flying and visibility over Yorkshire. The two aircraft appear to have been seperated and the pilot of the other aircraft, P/O Sackville, managed to locate an airfield in Yorkshire that was still under construction. Exactly which airfield this has yet to be learnt but it appears to have landed without damage. The pilot of AG586 was unable to locate an airfield however and he circled for a period of around an hour before the fuel level became low so he decided to abandon the aircraft. The aircraft crashed into Fountains Earth Moor, on the side of Nidderdale and the pilot landed nearby none the worse, he was met walking down a road into Nidderdale by would-be rescuers coming the other way.
Mustang AG586 was built to British Purchasing Commission contract A-250 by North American Aviation at Inglewood, Dallas, USA and was shipped to the UK, arriving at Liverpool Docks in April 1942. It was then taken by road to No.1 A.A.U. at Speke where it was assembled. After testing and acceptance it was taken on charge by 613 Squadron at Twinwood Farm before moving with the unit to Ouston on 28th August 1942. As a result of the incident on 15th December 1942 Cat.E2/FA damage was recorded and the aircraft was written off.
Pilot - P/O William James Bodington RAF (46842).
William Bodington was born on 30th March 1921 at Kings Norton, Warwickshire. He started his military career in The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) receiving a commission in 1940 before transferring to the RAF and receiving a commission in the RAF as P/O (temp) on 1st October 1941. He rose to F/O (war subs) on 1st October 1942 and F/Lt (war subs) on 1st October 1943. A year later he was flying Mosquitoes with 613 Squadron. He was awarded the DFC for service with 613 Squadron, Gazetted on 29th December 1944 but no citation has been found. He was also Mentioned in Despatches twice. On 9th September 1946 he relinquished his commission in the RAF and returned to Army duty as a Captain in The Cameronians. He later served in Palestine and rose to the rank of Major by the time he served in Malaya in 1952. He retired from the Army in 1958 and died on 12th April 1985 in Somerset.
My wife and I visited the crash site in April 2006 and again in August 2009. The photo above shows the impact crater filled with water.
A large and exceptionally heavy section of undercarriage leg at the site in 2009.
The photograph above shows a modification plate found at the site in 2009 in poor condition and the photograph below shows a typical Mustang part number with the
"N.A.A." North American Aviation inspection stamp. The number prefix of "73" refers to the design number for the Mustang which was the NA-73X.
The site as it was in 1974 when historian Nick Roberts found the site. Compared to the top photograph it can be seen how overgrown the site has become and infact how much wreckage was at the site back then.
The gun heater switch from Mustang AG586. This item was in the late Albert Pritchard's collection of aeroplane that I currently have to find a new home for, where he obtained it I do not know.
