Whitley N1474 at Flamborough Head.
On the night of 3rd / 4th August 1940 this 77 Squadron aircraft took off from Driffield at 21.05hrs to bomb the Rhenania Ossag A.G. oil refinery at Mannheim.
On their return the crew encountered thick fog over the Yorkshire coast and the crew was ordered to divert to another airfield because
of this. Unable to locate another airfield and running out of fuel the pilot force-landed the Whitley at 05.55hrs, on 4th August 1940 near
Head Farm, at Flamborough Head. The aircraft was landed wheels-down and was not damaged. When the weather improved and, after being
lightened and re-fuelled, it was flown out of the field, taking off to the seawards side and returned to base at Driffield.
Pilot - P/O Ian Morgan Rutherford Brownlie RAF (41899).
Second Pilot - P/O Antony Charles Letteblere Akroyd-Stuart RAF (72476).
Observer? - Sgt Fred Corlett RAFVR (745931).
? - Sgt Banter.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt John Baguley RAF (642862).
Ian Brownlie was born in September 1920 on the Isle of Wight, he received a commission to Acting P/O on probation on 15th April 1939 and was later
graded as P/O on probation on 6th November 1939 and was then confirmed in the rank of P/O on 6th February 1940 rising to F/O on 6th November 1940 and
F/Lt (war subs) on 6th November 1941. He completed a Tour with 77 Squadron and was awarded the DFC for this, Gazetted on 22nd November 1940, and was
later posted to 35 Squadron. On 6th February 1943 he transferred to the Reserve and was
called up for service with immediate effect but he was already a PoW when this notification came through as
on 17th January 1943 he was the pilot of Halifax W7886 which was shot down by an enemy aircraft off the Danish coast. He (as acting S/Ldr) and two of his crew became PoW's while
four others were sadly killed. One of his crew was F/Sgt F A Braybrook DFM who had gained this DFM with 102 Squadron at Driffield in December 1941 and both men possibly had met
while stationed at Driffield. He remained in The Reserve post-war and rose to S/Ldr (temporary) on 1st April 1946 (with seniority backdated to 1st July 1945). He retired as S/Ldr
on 18th September 1958.
Fred Corlett was awarded the DFM for servive with 77 Squadron, Gazetted on 17th January 1941. He was killed flying in Anson N5070 with 10 OTU on 27th July 1941, the
aircraft crashed near Westbury, Wiltshire with the loss of all five airmen on board. He is buried at Kirk Maughold, St Maughold Churchyard, on his native Isle of Man.
John Baguley was killed with 77 Squadron on 18th September 1940 when Whitley P4992 crashed on Ops. His is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
Whitley N1474 was built to contract 75147/38 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd. at Baginton and was awaiting
collection on 30th December 1939. After a short period of storage it was issued to 77 Squadron at Driffield
in early 1940. It moved with this unit to Kinloss on 15th April 1940 and returned to Driffield with them on
4th May 1940. No damage was sustained in the incident at Flamborough on 4th August 1940 (Cat.U). The aircraft was
transferred to 10 OTU at Abingdon on an unknown date in early 1941 to be used in a training role. It was
written off in a crash on 17th June 1941 Cat.W/FA damage recorded, when it crashed into a house on take off
from Abingdon with four of the crew being killed on that occasion.