Whitley K7189 near Haxby, York.
On 1st December 1937 the crew of this 10 Squadron Whitley were undertaking a cross-country training exercise when it was force-landed in a ploughed field near Haxby, York. The aircraft touched down in a ploughed field, but did not stop before crashing through a hedge, damaging a small wooden building and coming to rest in another field in the region of Landing Lane. Despite this the aircraft was not too badly damaged, the York newspaper stated that it sustained damage to the undercarriage, a wing and a propeller. The airmen involved are believed to have escaped injury. The damage was assessed and Cat.R(b) (repairable) damage was the assessment, after which the aircraft was dismantled and removed in sections from the site by road and was later re-built. A photograph of the aircraft exists in a local publication.
Pilot - P/O James Louis MacKenzie Bell RAF.
3 Crew - Names unknown.
James Bell was granted a commission in the RAF on 16th April 1935 as Acting P/O on probation and was posted to 10 Squadron on 4th March 1936. He was later promoted to F/O on 16th December 1937. He later reliquished his short service commission in the RAF on appointment to the Air Branch of the Royal Navy on 17th October 1938. Where he served for the next year is not yet known but he was later posted to 826 Squadron, possibly on their formation in early 1940. On 21st June 1940 Acting Lt Bell was almost certainly serving with 826 Squadron FAA (HMS Peregrine) and was killed flying in Fairey Albacore L7081 on a raid on De Kooy airfield and Den Helder naval station in the Netherlands. His aircraft failed to return to base and he and two crew were killed. He is buried in Den Burg Cemetery, Texel, Netherlands. This was the first Albacore to be shot down by an enemy aircraft. The photograph of his gravestone was found on the internet and shared by "Pa3erns"
Whitley K7189 was built to contract 421118/35 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd at Baginton and was allotted to 10 Squadron at Dishforth on 6th April 1937. The aircraft was delivered to 10 Squadron on 30th April 1937 and after suffering it's Cat.R/FA incident at Haxby on 1st December 1937 it was dismantled on site and delivered to 4 ED (Equipment Depot) on 21st December 1937 and repaired. It was then issued to 166 Squadron at Leconfield on 2nd August 1939 and moved with the unit to Abingdon on 17th September 1939. It was later transferred to 7 B.G.S. at Stormy Down on 10th January 1940. For some reason it needed repair and was sent to Airwork Ltd on 20th December 1940. It was next issued to 7 AGS again at Stormy Down on 31st July 1941 but suffered a Cat.Ac/FA mishap on 11th January 1942 when the tailwheel collapsed at Stormy Down, it was repaired on site by Marshall's Ltd from Cambridge with the repair commencing on 14th January 1942. It was again returned to 7 AGS on 28th February 1942 and was returned to Airwork Ltd for repair on 11th September 1942, reason unknown. It was ready and awaiting collection on 16th November 1942 and flown to 44 MU at Edzell on 8th December 1942 and remained there. It was broken up for scrap and struck off charge on 6th November 1943.