Whitley T4205 near Raskelf.
On 3rd December 1940 this 77 Squadron Whitley took off from Topcliffe at 16.32hrs for an operational flight to bomb Mannheim. For some reason the crew did not release their bombs over the target and brought them home and while making for their Yorkshire base at Topcliffe the aircraft was force landed near Easingwold, in an area known locally as Boscar Wood, Raskelf. Lack of fuel was blamed for the landing being attempted which was not suprising given the time in the air. The wireless had also failed and the crew were unable to get signals to locate an airfield. A fire broke out in the landing which caused one of the bombs to explode later. Two times for this incident have been located, 06.00hrs is quoted in the police records, the AM Form 1180 and also in the casualty file for the crew while 03.40hrs is also given.
Whitley T4205 was built to contract 38599/39 by Armstrong Whitworth at Baginton and was awaiting collection on 5th September 1940. It was delivered to the RAF during the first week of September 1940 to 77 Squadron at Linton-on-Ouse. It moved with the unit to Topcliffe on 5th October 1940. It sustained Cat.W/Burnt damage in the incident detailed above having been destroyed.
Pilot - Sgt Norman Cound Bizley RAFVR (742472). Broken leg and arm.
Second Pilot - P/O Peter George Hooke Pearson RAF (91068). Slightly injured.
Observer - Sgt Kenneth Randolph Sewell RAFVR (751350).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt James William Middleton RAFVR (937840).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Gordon Engel RAFVR (940535). Injured.
This was Sgt Bizley's second crash within a month; he had ditched a Whitley off Hornsea, Yorkshire in mid-November 1940 on return from Ops to Berlin. On 6th / 7th July 1941 Sgt Bizley was flying Whitley Z6642 on Ops to Dortmund, his aircraft crashed in Holland and he and the four he was flying with became PoW's. He was born in Bristol in 1919 and married in the same area in the 1950s. He appears to have left the RAF after the war but rejoined and was appointed to a commission in the Training Branch in 1962 but resigned two years later. By this date he had gained a law degree.
Peter Pearson was awarded the DFC for service with 77 Squadron in 1941.
On the night of 14th / 15th August 1941 Sgt Sewell was flying in 35 Squadron Halifax L9500 on Ops to Magdeburg when the aircraft crashed in Germany with the loss of the whole crew. He is buried in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.
Sgt Engel was still with 77 Squadron on 3rd April 1941 and was flying in Whitley P4947 which crashed near Waddington on return from Ops to Brest. He was the only survivor. He is named in the 1502 B.A.T. Flight orb as remustering to wireless operator and reverted to the rank of Cpl with effect of 27th April 1942 on medical grounds, and was then posted to Hawkinge with effect of 16th May 1942. What happened to him is not yet clear.
Sgt James Middleton was awarded the DFM for service with 77 Squadron on 18th July 1941 and was also Mentioned in Despatches on 1st January 1942. He was probably instructing
at the time of the Thousand Bomber raids and flew the Cologne one on 31st May 1942 and Essen one 2nd June 1942 with 22 OTU. By the middle of 1942 he was flying with 115 Squadron,
on the night of 27th / 28th August 1942 he was flying in Wellington BJ710 on Ops to Kassel when the aircraft was shot down over Germany. He was the only survivor and he saw out
the end of the War as a PoW.