This Miles Hawk had taken off from the London area on Tuesday, 5th June 1934 with the pilot intended on flying north to Newcastle. On board were two passengers despite the aircraft being built as a twin seat aircraft. It seems likely that this was a pilot flying with two people that he knew rather than him being employed to fly the two north. He was an RAF Reservist and also an international ice hockey player. As the aircraft flew north it entered an area of dense fog that probably saw the pilot lose his way. The aircraft eventually flew over the North York Moors and by the time it was flying over Bilsdale it was also raining. After flying over Chop Gate it headed north but was too low to avoid clearing the high ground ahead. A short time later it flew into a field on a hillside near Holme Farm, farmed by Mr Harry Todd. Mr Todd was ploughing one his fields when he saw the aircraft come out of the mist and fly straight at him, so newspaper reports stated, he had to duck to avoid being hit by the aircraft's undercarriage. The aircraft crashed nearby and Mr Todd went to assist the three on board who were found still strapped to their seats. He freed them and took them to his farm where his wife looked after them. Dr McGill from Stokesley was called and the injured were taken by Great Ayton Motor Ambulance to North Ormesby hospital where they were later described as "comfortable".
Pilot - Mr Harry Edward Hazard Mayes. Minor injuries.
Passenger - Miss Louie Witty Debnam. Minor injuries.
Passenger - "Mr H F/S Morton".
The aircraft crashed in one of the fields shown in the photograph above.
Harry Mayes was the son of Henry George and Frances (nee Hazard) Mayes and was born on 11th February 1908 in Richmond, Surrey. His birth was registered as Henry and he was baptised at St.Matthias church, Richmond on 6th March 1908. The family moved to Winnipeg, Canada in May 1909 and his parents went on to have two daughters in Canada. His father served in the army during WW1, being awarded the MBE for his service in 1918. Harry was a grandson of Herbert Hazard who played in the Wimbledon Tennis tournaments in the 1920s. Harry joined the RAF in the late-1920s. He was granted a commission to the rank of P/O on probation on 15th March 1929, confirmed in the rank of P/O on 27th August 1930 and rose to the rank of F/O on 14th October 1930. He was posted to No.5 Flying Training School at Sealand on 2nd April 1929 and following training there he was posted to 56 Squadron, at North Weald, in September 1930. He was later elected to the Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom in February 1931 but doesn't appear to have been awarded an RAeC aviators' certificate. In August 1932 he was part of a 56 Squadron team that won the Sir Philip Sassoon Map Reading Trophy at Northolt. He became a successful ice hockey player, playing for and captaining Grosvenor House Canadians. In 1931 he represented England against Scotland in the first international between the two nations. He represented England in 1932 at ice hockey against Canada, Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Rumania and Latvia. In February 1933 he captained England against Scotland and represented England in the World Ice Hockey Championships held in Milan in February 1934. He was transferred to the RAF Reserve on 15th March 1934 and must have left 56 Squadron around that date. 56 Squadron began an annual air firing training camp at Sutton Bridge from 2nd to 4th June 1934 and while there is no mention in the 56 Squadron records that Mayes had left the squadron prior to this, with him then crashing a civilian aeroplane on 5th June 1934 this seems unlikely he was still with 56 Squadron. Newspapers gave his address as being "The King's Head, North Weald" when describing the crash at Bilsdale. His RAF service file states that in August he was transferred to C-Class of the RAF Reserve and that he was living in India indefinitely. A late-1934 newspaper report from India mentions him as having joined Captain A H Dalton in his "Dalton's Air Display" pageant that toured India. He reliquished his commission of F/Lt in the RAF Reserve on 15th March 1938.
He married Diana Hermione Elizabeth Benson (born in Thirsk in 1914). She was a registered nurse and later worked at Bombay Hospital. What he did in WW2 is unclear. In August 1945 he sailed from Bombay to Plymouth, giving his address as Mountview, Willingdon, Sussex and his occupation as a test pilot. In 1948 he sailed from Karachi to New York with his wife, their address was New Delhi, India at that time. He died in Buckinghamshire in 1993.
G-ACSX was owned by and registered to Harlow Mill Ltd based at Hatfield. The operator of the aircraft was Harlow Flying Field Limited and their registered office was at Hatfield but the aircraft was actually based at North Weald. They had purchased the aircraft on 17th May 1934 and the Certificate of Airworthiness was issued the following day. Harlow Mill Flying Fields Limited was registered as a company in May 1934. Harry/Henry E Mayes was one of three registered directors and who also owned Miles Hawk G-ACVR but the company was disolved by March 1939. National Archives file "BT31/33515/288331" and "BT31/33364/267764" may have more information.
Working out which Henry Morton this was who was a passenger in Hawk G-ACSX has not been easy. He was possibly the one who was born at Hetton-le-Hole, Durham in 1913, who was a son of Henry and Hannah Morton. His father was a coal miner and, who, in the 1921 census were living at Houghton le Spring. He enlisted to the RAF in the mid-1930s but I have not located him on the 1939 Register. He was awarded the DFM for service with 228 Squadron for his actions in November 1940. Gazetted on 8th April 1941 the citation stated "Sergeant Morton has been an Air Observer in Sunderland aircraft continuously since the outbreak of war and has flown on 76 operational patrols, all of which have been of an arduous and exacting nature. The success of these patrols and recces has depended in no small degree on the skill of the Navigator and in particularly, Sergeant Morton has reached a very high level due to sheer painstaking attention to detail and being continuously on the job. Sergeant Morton has also proved himself a determined and courageous Air Gunner when his aircraft was attacked by enemy fighters. On 1st November, 1940, he removed a casualty from the rear turret and fought the rear guns during five attacks by a Macchi 200, causing it to break away. In all instances, he achieved this with only one control as the other had been shot away previously. Sergeant Morton has set an inspiring example to all members of the squadron, officers and airmen alike, by his continuous devotion to duty." He married Eliza Cecilia Scott in Durham North on 25th October 1941 at Hetton le Hole. He starred in the film "Coastal Command" during which he was known as "Jammy" and was shown as a navigator flying in Sunderlands. His pilot in the film (W/Co Ernest Leslie "Johnny" Hyde) was killed a short time later, while four others were killed in the crash that killed the Duke of Kent in Scotland. Having received a commission, F/Lt Henry Morton DFM RAF (47899) died on 6th January 1944 serving with 228 Squadron in the loss of Sunderland JM709. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. He was thirty years old.
Despite newspapers spelling the female passenger's name a number of different ways I have searched through various birth records and census records for South Shields and believe that the young lady was Louie Debnam. She was the daughter of Charles William and Lilian Debnam and was born at South Shields on 19th September 1911. She later married Charles Westaway on 8th September 1937 in Epping and was living in Ilford, Essex in 1939. She died in Haringey in 1983.