On Saturday, 27th August 1931 the pilot of this aircraft was flying over North Yorkshire when the aircraft suffered a fractured fuel pipe in mid-flight while he was over the North Yorkshire Moors. He was left with little option but to force land the aircraft did so in a field a quarter mile to the West of Hawnby, the aircraft was damaged slightly but the pilot was unhurt. The aircraft was part of No.450 (Fleet Reconnaissance) Flight attached to HMS Courageous, Fleet Air Arm. It was possibly using the ground base of Catfoss at the time of this incident though it appears that the unit were stationed at Gosport at the time.
Pilot - F/O George Frederick Whistondale RAF (16259).
Fairey IIIF S1492 was built to contract 34792/30 by the Fairey Aviation Co. Ltd. at Hayes. It was delivered to 450 Flight at Gosport for service on HMS Courageous on 6th November 1930 and initially was coded "-56" but later re-coded "-743". As a result of the forced landing near Hawnby on 27th August 1931 it was possibly repaired on site and flown out but nothing has yet been found to state this. It was then damaged again in a ground accident on 1st July 1932 when it struck parked Sidestrand J9770 whilst taxying at Catfoss with the then pilot, P/O N.E.Morrison being uninjured. It was repaired on site at Catfoss and returned to 450 Flight. On 3rd April 1933 450 Flight became 820 Squadron on HMS Courageous and the aircraft was re-coded "-749". On 30th January 1934 it was flown to Fairey Aviation Ltd. at Hamble when, on 1st September 1934 reconditioning commenced. On 15th Septmber 1934 it was flown to 2 ASU at Cardington where it was stored until 24th June 1935 when it was transferred to ‘C’ Flight of the School of Naval Co-operation at Lee on Solent. It transferred to "D" Flight of the same unit on 12th March 1936 but on 31st August 1936 the undercarriage hit a telegraph pole on landing at Lee on Solent and aircraft tipped on it’s nose. The crew survived but were all injured; Sgt.C.L.Gould and Lt.G.J.Cardew (slightly injured) and Lt.R.Dyer RN (seriously injured). The damage was assessed as being repairable Cat.R but it does not appear to have been repaired and there is no further record.
George Whistondale received a commission on 11th December 1926 to the rank of P/O, he was promoted to F/O on 11th June 1928, F/Lt on 1st February 1934 and to S/Ldr on 1st August 1938. He would be involved in quite a few flying accidents, the known ones are as follows.
On 6th July 1931 George Whistondale was still serving with 450 Flight (Fleet Spotter Reconnaissance Flight) attached to HMS Courageous, and flying Fairey IIIf S1489 when, he and his crew, Sgt T R Law (Observer) and AC1 E Nicholls were undertaking a flight when the aircraft suffered an engine failure, he force landed the aircraft near Driffield, Yorkshire but the aircraft overturned and sustained serious damage. He nor any of his crew are thought to have been seriously injured.
On 17th February 1932 he was serving with the same 450 Flight attached to HMS Courageous which was operating off Malta as a Fleet Spotter Reconnaissance Flight. On this date he was flying Fairey IIIF S1491 in the Marsa Scirocco area when the aircraft must have been deemed by him to be unflyable. He abandoned the aircraft and landed in the sea by parachute, fortunately a passing fishing boat spotted him and he was soon rescued. A passenger in the aircraft, Able Seaman James Starley (P/SSX 12188) did not get clear of the aircraft and was sadly killed as a result and his body may not have been recovered.
On 11th August 1939 he was serving with 82 Squadron RAF and flying Blenheim L1112 on a practice bombing exercise when the aircraft suffered an engine failure over the Derby area, he attempted to force land the aircraft near Chellaston but the aircraft overshot the selected field and ran into a ditch. He, Sgt H J W Bareham and AC G W Whitehead escaped injury.
He died on 1st March 1942 serving as a Acting G/Cpt when Kalidjati airfield in Java was overrun by the Japanese. He was the commanding officer at the airfield at the time and was last seen returning to his office, allegedly to retrieve his stamp collection. His car was ambushed and he and his passenger were killed. He has no known or maintainable grave so is commemorated on the Singapore Memorial. He was thirty four years old. This was the same action that saw F/O Peter Gibbes RAAF to be awarded the DFC for his actions in single-handedly flying off a Hudson from the airfield that then drew away enemy fire from elsewhere. Peter Gibbes was the brother of Rodney Gibbes (who would be the pilot of Wellington R3154 that crashed at Rosedale in 1940). The incident is related in detail the book 'Buffaloes Over Singapore'.