Battle P6663 at Dishforth airfield.
In poor visibility on 2nd December 1940 the pilot of this aircraft made a landing at Dishforth on a flight between two unconfirmed airfields. Peterborough was probably where it had begun from as it had previous been based there with 7 F.T.S. and was heading north but at the time of the incident the aircraft was being flown by a 7 Ferry Pilot Pool pilot who were based at Sherburn in Elmet so it may have landed there en-route. The undercarriage had failed to properly lock down and it collapsed on touching down at Dishforth.
Pilot - P/O B Peszkowski PAF.
The pilot was possibly Boleslaw Eugeniusz Peszkowski PAF (P.1097) and if correct then he later served with 308 Squadron. He was killed with 301 Squadron on 22nd July 1942 when Wellington Z1406 failed to return from Ops to Duisburg. He is buried in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany. His rear gunner was Josef Fusniak who was the sole survivor of both this and also the accident to a Wellington that crashed on Buckden Pike earlier in the War.
Battle P6663 was built to contract 768880/38 by Fairey at Heaton Chapel and was delivered as a "T" variant to 7 S.F.T.S. at Peterborough on 16th March 1940. On 2nd December 1940 it was being ferried between Peterborough and an unknown airfield when the pilot force landed at Dishforth damaging it. Cat.M/FA damage would have been the damage assessment with a repair on site being made. With the repairs complete it was flown to 27 M.U. at Shawbury on 24th March 1941. It later transferred to 47 MU at Sealand (a Packing & Storage depot) in preparation for transfer to the RCAF on 5th July 1941. It transferred to the RCAF on 24th July 1941, was registered as 2053 and was moved by ship to Canada. On arrival there it was taken on charge at 8 Repair Depot (RD) at Winnipeg on 12th August 1941 and probably remained within No.2 Training Command, based at Winnipeg and was used by either No.3, 5 or 7 B&GS. It is mentioned as being at 8 RD on 15th January 1943. On 7th April 1943 it was being ferried by 124 Ferry Squadron back to 2 Training Command when it's engine cut and it hit trees before making at belly landing one mile east of Ogaki, Ontario. The aircraft was struck off charge as a result of this damage and deemed usable for spares on 3rd May 1943.