Whitley K9023 at Dishforth airfield.
On 15th October 1939 this 10 Squadron aircraft was due to have flown a leaflet dropping operational flight and took off at 17.20hrs from Dishforth. Prior to taking off the rear gunner asked an armourer if the guns were loaded and having found that they were not the aircraft took off and the gunner began to load them. Around the same time oil being to cover the windscreen of the cockpit restricting visibility so the pilot abandoned the flight and made a landing back at Dishforth airfield at 17.40hrs. Unfortunately the rear gunner was unaware of the landing and had his feet in the extended ventral turret when the aircraft landed. The foot rest of the turret was broken off and he escaped with little more than bruised legs.
Pilot - F/Lt Richard Bickford RAF (37462).
Air Gunner - Ac2 George Lawrence Donnelly RAF (618288). Injured.
Observer - P/O Wakefield.
Wireless Operator - Ac Fletcher.
Air Gunner - Ac Gudgeon.
Richard Bickford received a commission to the rank of Acting P/O on probation on 7th January 1936, this was made permanent on 28th October 1936, he rose from P/O to F/O on 28th June 1938 and to F/Lt on 6th May 1939. As F/Lt he was awarded the DFC on 17th May 1940 and soon after was the pilot of Whitley P4962 which crashed on take off from Topcliffe in June 1940 (detailed on this website). He was posted to command E-Flight at 10 OTU following his Tour with 10 Squadron and on 28th November 1940 crashed Magister L5958 on landing at Abingdon with this unit. S/Ldr Bickford later returned to operational flying to commanded 76 Squadron at Middleton St George. He was killed on 29th August 1941 as pilot of Halifax L9518 returning from
Ops to Frankfurt. The aircraft ran out of fuel near Pocklington, Yorkshire and he ordered his crew to bale out but sadly his parachute wrapped around the aircrafts tail fin
and he was dragged down by the crashing aircraft (a loss detailed on this website). S/Ldr Bickford was cremated in Darlington and was thirty years old. His son later became a pilot with British Airways.
Part of the commemorative wall in Darlington's Western Cemetery baring his name.
George "Larry" Donnelly received the DFM for service with 76 Squadron, Gazetted in April 1942. In March 1945 he received a commission serving in the RAF into the 1950s.
Whitley K9023 was built to contract 522438/36 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd at Baginton and was allotted to 10 Squadron at Dishforth on 13th March 1939 but was not delivered until 26th May 1939 where it was initially coded "PB-E". This coding became "ZA-E" on outbreak of war. There is no record of this incident on the aircraft's record card and as such no details of
the repair but it was repaired as 10 Squadron were using it by the end of February 1940. It was then issued to 10 OTU at Abingdon on 20th May 1940 and transferred to 19 OTU at
Kinloss on 11th August 1940. Here it suffered a Cat.R/FA accident on 25th October 1940 when an engine cut on a night take off for a training flight. The aircraft
was able to return and land but overshot and crashed. It was dismantled and transported to Airwork Ltd at Gatwick for repair on 9th November 1940 but after assessment
and some repairs it was struck off charge on 1st May 1941 and became 3302M to be used for training purposes.