Avro 504J B3201 (?) at Normanby, Kirkbymoorside.
The first indication of this incident occurring at Normanby came to me through an email in 2007 by a former village resident who had been told of it occurring by a witness. The information gives precise information and stated that on 2nd March 1918 an aeroplane made a crash landing in a field to the south of Normanby and in the field to the rear of Bridge House Farm. The following is an account of the crash given by the witness Mr Robert Foxton, who was nine years old at the time and living nearby: "The plane circled the village and started a descent into the field at Bridge Farm (towards the Church and Sun Inn) however, its tail clipped an oak tree and it tipped and crashed in to the field. The plane had just run out of fuel. The plane had the propellers behind the wings and the gun turret in front just like a metal cattle trough. The gunner was thrown out and suffered a broken leg." Because of the aeroplane appearing to have the propeller behind the wings he believed it to have been a "pusher" type; with the engine behind the cockpit. Robert’s father, Sergeant A.T.Foxton, served in the Volunteer Force and as the most local senior member took charge for two days until Royal Flying Corps members arrived to take the wreck away. He stated that the pilot was an Australian and both the pilot and gunner stayed at the Foxton's home at Rose Cottage until collected by the Ministry. The Bridge Farm belonged to the Wood family at the time.
One must take all witness accounts in good faith but not all may actually be entirely 100% accurate. Stating the pilot was Australian though I feel will be accurate. While he stated it was a "pusher" type, other local people have claimed it to have been a Sopwith type (not a pusher).
In the years since 2007 much more information in respect of Royal Flying Corps records has been placed in the public domain. The RAF Museum's "Vault" archive is one such archive and contains details of injuries sustained in Royal Flying Corps service. Some kind person has been through the index cards and transcribed the information to make it easily searchable. Searching the date 2nd March 1918 one such incident jumps out that MAY be this aeroplane at Normanby. On 2nd March 1918 Avro 504J B3201, of No.39 Training Squadron, based at Lincoln, suffered a cylinder head of the engine coming away during flight, the engine then failed and the pilot then misjudged a forced landing and struck a tree. The pilot "Lt R.W.Gosse" sustained injuries. The damaged aeroplane, specifically the fuel switch, was inspected. While it does not actually state it this suggests it was believed that the pilot error caused the fuel supply to be cut off and the engine failed. No location is stated on the record card. The only pilot this can be is Lt Reginald Wilkes Gosse, he was born on 12th May 1891 in Australia. His service file has injuries recorded as being on 2nd March 1918. His casualty card does however state that he was flying solo on this date.
Pilot - Lt Reginald Wilkes Gosse RFC.
(Possible) Observer / Gunner? - Name unknown.
He was already working as an actor before the First World War. He returned to this becoming a professional theatre actor, then later a theatrical producer and Honorary Secretary of Green Room Club. He appears to have been married three times; firstly to Helen Lizzette Gordon Jones in 1918 (divorced 1926), Vera M Browne / Rogers in 1933 and Margaret E Jeary (also an actress) in 1938. He died in 1989 at Great Yarmouth. His second wife was probably not actress the same Vera Browne who went on to become "Sally Gray" and Baroness Oranmore purely because she was twenty four years younger than him and her fame would by now have surely seen someone else record the link.
An aerial photograph of Normanby, looking north, taken in 1978 with the rough crash location marked.
Part of the propeller was taken to the farm following the crash, it still remained in the village at least until 2007 in the possession of Miss Margaret Wood. I thank Bernie Frank (bernie.rainham@btinternet.com), formerly of Normanby, for contacting me and supplying the initial information and the photographs on this page. Robert Foxton was still alive in 2007, aged 97 and living in Hereford. He was Normanby's village tailor, local school taxi driver and poultry dealer. He lived at Rose Cottage in the village. He died in 2008.
Reginald Gosse was born on 12th May 1891 and was the son of John and Mary (nee Bennet) Gosse. His father was born in London but moved to Australia in 1870 and was married in 1874. They lived for a time at Wallaroo, South Australia. His father John was a highly respected doctor. Reginald was one of six children born in Australia. His father John Gosse died in 1897 and the surviving family moved back to London. Reginald had an older brother Alfred Hope Gosse, born in 1880 at Wallaroo and also became a respected doctor. Reginald Gosse initially served in the 1/4th North Hampshire Regiment before transferring to the Royal Flying Corps in Autumn 1917. He was granted a commission on 26th March 1918. He transferred to the newly created RAF in April 1918 and then left when he was placed on the Unemployed List on 11th February 1919.
