Whitley P5091 near Snape.
On 9th October 1940 the crew of this 77 Squadron aircraft were returning from an operational flight having bombed Hanau and were flying in poor visibility in
the early hours. They are believed to have joined the circuit to land at Topcliffe and were waiting to land but the aircraft
hit trees near Snape, Masham, some miles west of Topcliffe at 03.55hrs, crashed and caught fire. Sadly the crew of five were
killed as a result of the crash. Although reported to have been in the landing circuit it is probably that they had
left it given the poor visibility and distance of the crash from Topcliffe. The aircraft is believed to have run out of fuel just prior to the crash.
Pilot - Sgt George William Brown RAF (566550), aged 33. Of Ashington. Buried Seaton Hirst Churchyard, Northumberland.
Second Pilot - Midshipman David Arthur Charles Hadingham RN (HMS Daedalus), attached 77 Squadron. Aged 19, of Sanderstead. Buried Sanderstead Churchyard, Surrey.
Observer - Sgt William Goodall MacMorland RAFVR (751459), aged 23, of Stock, Essex. Buried Topcliffe Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator - Sgt Joseph Reginald Wardman RAFVR (938888), aged 27, of Hull. Buried Hull Western Cemetery, Yorkshire.
(Wireless Operator/) Air Gunner - Sgt Cleveland Cottham RAF (637463), aged 19, of Sevenoaks, Kent. Buried Topcliffe Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Sgt Macmorland and his gravestone at Topcliffe Cemetery. At the foot of his grave is a small plaque placed there by his fiancee Sybil McCheyne some years ago. I thank his relation Jane Law for the photograph of them and this information.
Joseph Wardman and his gravestone in Hull's Western Cemetery.
Sgt Cottham's gravestone at Topcliffe Cemetery.
Air historians Albert Pritchard, Eric Barton and Ken Reast located small fragments on the surface at the crash site in September 2000 with permission from the landowner confirming the crash location. The photograph above shows small fragments retained by Eric Barton, presumably to clean with a hope of finding identification numbers. These items subsequently passed through me and are now with the Whitley Project.
Whitley P5091 was built to contract 75147/38 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd, at Baginton and was allocated to 6 MU on 5th July 1940. It was received by 6 MU on 18th July 1940 and after a period of MU storage it was taken on charge by 102 Squadron at Leeming on 16th August 1940. This allocation was quickly changed and the aircraft was taken on charge by 77 Squadron at Linton on Ouse on 19th August 1940. The aircraft would have been a replacement aircraft for those destroyed in a raid on Driffield airfield on 15th August 1940. 77 Squadron then moved to Topcliffe on 5th October 1940. It sustained Cat.W/FB damage on 9th October 1940 at Snape and was struck off charge.
