Halifax BB310 on Little Dun Fell, Northern Pennines.
Strictly speaking this incident occurred well outside Yorkshire and has never been in Yorkshire, even using the much larger North Riding of Yorkshire boudary which was in place when the accident occurred. Mickle Fell was about the limit for where the old Yorkshire boundary once fell. As I have located the site, and it's on high ground and it has a memorial I have included it on the website.
During the evening of 11th April 1944 this aircraft took off from Longtown airfield near Carlisle at 17.05hrs with a crew of nine for a night cross-country training flight as part of their Coastal Command training programme with Heavy Conversion Unit. In the early hours of the 12th April 1944 they were on the return leg of the flight and flying in from the north-west coast of England when the aircraft overshot their airfield completely due to low cloud, the aircraft then flew towards the high ground area of the Pennine chain of hills. While flying in cloud and in reasonably level flight the aircraft struck the ground below the peak of Little Dun Fell, to the north of Appleby, at 01.37hrs with the loss of all on board. On 1st May 1994 a memorial was erected at the crash site through the efforts of Mr Graham Doyle, a relation of F/O Brookes. Much of his research into the crew and this final flight is to be found in David Earl's book "Hell on High Ground 2" and I do not wish to copy this work.
Pilot (trainee) - F/O Paul Bevens Stevens RCAF (J/24458), aged 25, of Euclid, Ohio, USA. Buried Blacon Cemetery, Chester.
Second Pilot - F/O Sydney Brookes RAFVR (156625), aged 31, of Burtons Green, Essex. Buried Blacon Cemetery, Chester.
Flight Engineer - Sgt Robert James Littlefield RAFVR (1853196), aged 20, of Bitterne Park, Southampton. Buried Southampton Cemetery, Hampshire.
Navigator - Sgt William John Morrison RAFVR (1542075), aged ? Of Bangor. Buried Bangor Cemetery, Co.Down, Northern Ireland.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Hugh Dunningham RAFVR (1385253), aged 22, of Hampstead. Buried Hampstead Cemetery, London.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/Sgt Frank Pess RCAF (R/171924), aged 28, of Barrhead, Alberta, Canada. Buried Blacon Cemetery, Chester.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/Sgt Harold Stanley Seabrook RCAF (R/168412), aged 20, of Southampton, Ontario, Canada. Buried Blacon Cemetery, Chester.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Dean Walter Swedberg RCAF (R/177995), aged 21, of Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada. Buried Blacon Cemetery, Chester.
Instructor Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/Sgt William Alan Johnson RAFVR DFM (1107720), aged 23, of Gateshead. Buried Gateshead East Cemetery, Durham.
Sydney Brookes received a commission to P/O on probation (emergency) on 18th July 1943 and rose to F/O on 18th January 1944. He had flown with 172 Squadron and 179 Squadron before posting to this training unit almost certainly to convert to flying four engined aircraft. He had only 3.5 hours flying time at night in the Halifax type when the accident occurred. In total he had flown 704 hours solo in all types and had flown 106 hours at night in all types of aircraft. He was reasonably experienced in flying at night but not in the Halifax type.
Harold Seabrook was born on 25th March 1924 to William James and Eleanor Emily Seabrook, of Southampton, Ontario, Canada.
I thank his brother Mr Al Seabrook for contacting me in December 2012, for supplying the photograph of his brother and for other information shown on this webpage. In August 2016 we were able to assist Brian and Jan Beabrook to visit the crash site of Halifax BB310 on Little Dun Fell, in the North Pennines. Brian's uncle, twenty year old F/Sgt Harold Seabrook, was one of the Canadian wireless operator / air gunners on board BB310. Brian and Jan Seabrook were had flown in from Ontario, Canada to visit the site and memorial plaque as part of a holiday in the UK.
Sgt Littlefield's grave, photograph found on "Flickr" and posted by "Red-Eye".
The Halifax struck the ground towards the centre shown in this photograph.
My wife and I visited the crash site and a large memorial on the 65th anniversary of the crash in April 2009. A large boulder-filled hole marks the crash site but little remains visible there. I re-visited the site with Brian and Jan Seabrook in August 2016 and there appeared to be very little change in the seven years between my visits. Brian is shown in the photograph above at the memorial dedicated to his uncle and the other airmen who died as a result of this accident.
A few small parts baring the "57" Halifax prefixed-part numbers and the London Aircraft Production Group manufacturer inspection stamps are still to be found to confirm the aircraft's identity.
Paul Stevens died just short of his birthday, he was born on 19th April 1918 to Emery and Hazel Stevens, of Euclid, Ohio, USA. Prior to enlisting he had gained a B.A. degree at Western Reserve University. At the time of his death he had no night flying experience as a captain of the Halifax type and twenty six hours as captain during the day.
Frank Pess was born on 11th December 1914 to Michael and Martha Pess, of Barrhead, Alberta, Canada. However CWGC list him as being aged twenty eight upon his death - an error in the records somewhere.
Sgt Johnson was awarded the DFM for service with 502 Squadron, Gazetted on 14th April 1944 - two days after his death.
William Morrison was formerly a cadet in 825 (Bangor) Squadron Air Training Corps from 7th March 1941 to 20th August 1941 but
left due to enlistment into the RAFVR.
Dean Swedberg was born on 21st January 1923 to Edward and Audrey Swedberg of Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada. Rifleman David Raymond Swedberg who died on 30th September 1944, a few weeks after D-Day while fighting in France, may well be his cousin.
