The basic "facts" of this incident were initially located in a Cumbria magazine article from September 2009 which, on the face of it reads nothing more than pure fact. It states that in 1941 this aircraft was one of a number, possibly three, being flown from an airfield in Scotland to airfields in England. The aircraft had re-fuelled at Carlisle (Kirkbride?) and set off for the flight south, believing that they were following the Settle-Carlisle railway line the pilot headed south. The line he had infact followed was the railway line running down the Lune Gorge; now the West Coast Mainline. An engine problem then saw the pilot make a forced landing in a field on a small hill known as Gibbet Hill, on the lower slopes of the Howgill Fells and about three miles south of Tebay. The aircraft was un-damaged. The Czech pilot (Sgt Skarvada) and his "navigator" made his way off this small hill northwards for assistance and arrived at a nearby farm and were taken to a local hotel, The Junction Hotel, where they stayed the night. As such the Magister did not have "navigators" but it seems likely that this aircraft was being ferried south and the second seat was effectively used by a navigator. The same magazine article suggests that two other Czech pilots were flying similar routes to this aircraft on this day with both aircraft crashing with fatal results with contaminated fuel being blamed. The pilot returned to the Tebay area in the 1980s and met a farmer who helped him after the landing.
I have attempted to bring some modern research into play to further document the incident. Firstly, Gibbet Hill was just inside the old West Riding of Yorkshire, at the far north-western extremity of the county. Confirmed through RAF records is that the named pilot trained at No.52 Operational Training Unit in Spring 1941 and was then posted to 310 Squadron on 21st July 1941. 310 Squadron were based at Dyce, Scotland during the Summer and Autumn 1941 and in December they moved south to take up residence at Perranporth, Cornwall.
310 Squadron moved from Dyce, Scotland to Perranporth, Cornwall in December 1941. What appears to have occurred is that before the main party and then the flying party left Dyce, the squadron's hack or runabout Magister left Dyce on 13th December 1941 and headed south. The squadron must have got word something had occurred because they recorded in their record book that day that "unofficial information has been received that the aircraft was forced to land on a hill, locality unknown, due to engine failure. It is understood that both men are unhurt, and that the Magister is intact but will not be able to take off again and may have to be dismantled". This must be the incident that occurred in the Lune Gorge.
The squadron records state on 13th December 1941 that the main party left Dyce by train, the following morning 17 Spitfires began the flight south but poor weather hampered the route south. They appear to have been due to land at Catterick to refuel but the weather caused the flight to seperate and several landing at Usworth, West Hartlepool and Middleton St.George. One of which crashed at West Hartlepool slightly injuring the pilot. These Spitfires continued to fly south over the next few days but the weather again hampered this and they landed across the south of England, mainly at Colerne. They finally reached Perranporth on 24th December 1941. The day after the two men who had landed in the Lune Gorge arrived at Perranporth by train.
Pilot - Sgt Zdenek Skarvada RAF (788334).
Pilot - F/O Josef Hugo Cermak RAF (82589).
Zdenek Skarvada was born in 1917. He entered the RAF in 1940 at the age of 23. He was posted to 310 Squadron from 52 OTU in July 1941. On 4th February 1942 was scrambled for a patrol off the Scilly Isles in Spitfire AD412. The events of what then occurred are not known but he was forced to bale out and landed in the sea. A passing German boat picked him up and he became a PoW. The internet contains a great deal of information regarding his life and in 2009 he was living in Ostrava, Czech Republic. He died in 2013. The book cover shown above details his life.