Defiant N1568 near Thorp Arch.
At 01.00hrs on 26th April 1941 this No.54 Operational Training Unit aircraft took off from Church Fenton airfield for the two crew to undertake a night flying training exercise that involved flying homing barings. Other aircraft from the same unit flew similar training exercises around the same time. Half an hour this Defiant took off a plot of an approaching aircraft or several aircraft was seen by ground controllers approaching the Yorkshire coast at around 10,000 feet. By 01.45hrs it was felt that the approaching aircraft were hostile. Church Fenton airfield ordered the airfield lighting to be switched off and a signal was sent to all the orbiting aircraft were ordered to turn off their navigation lights. The crew of Defiant N1568 either did not see this signal or simply failed to turn off their lights.
Just after 02.00hrs the Defiant was seen, with its lights switched on, flying over Boston Spa and was being attacked by a single hostile aircraft. Both aircraft exchanged gunfire and while this was going on, the pilot of the Defiant was seen to take violent evasive action but lost significant height in doing so. At 02.06hrs it was still being followed by the hostile aircraft flying at tree top height near Thorp Arch when it flew through trees, crashed and the crew of two were killed. A detailed examination of the wreckage took place but no evidence of bullet or cannon strikes were found. It was assumed that the crash was down to it flying into trees around two hundred yards south of Thorp Arch church while taking evasive action rather than being physically shot down.
Modern research suggests that it was a Junkers Ju88, piloted by Lt Rudolf Pfeiffer, of NJG2, that was the hostile aircarft involved.
Pilot - Sgt Frederick Charles Eric Crozier RAFVR (908262), aged 20. Buried Standon Churchyard, Hertfordshire.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/Sgt George Bell RAF(Aux) (802438), aged 29. Buried Paisley (Hawkhead) Cemetery, Scotland.
George Bell was born on 28th January 1912 at Paisley and was the son of Daniel and Charlotte Bell. He married Mary Lawe. In April 2007 Mr David Crozier, the brother of the pilot killed in this crash, was instrumental in a memorial been erected and dedicated in Thorp Arch church. I thank him for contacting me and for the information he was able to provide and for the photograph of F/Sgt Bell shown above. I visited the cemetery in 2013 and located F/Sgt Bell's grave on a very wet day.
Frederick Crozier was born on 20th November 1920 at Broxbourne, Hertfordshire and was the son of Frederick William and Adelaide Bertha Crozier.
The memorial plaque in Thorp Arch Church.
Historians Ken Reast, Eric Barton and Albert Pritchard located the site in September 1999, with permission from the landowner, which confirmed the precise location.
Defiant N1568 was built to contract 751807/38 by Boulton & Paul Ltd. at Wolverhampton and was awaiting collection in June 1940. After a short
period of storage it was taken on charge by 141 Squadron at Prestwick the following month as a replacement for aircraft lost earlier in the month
during the Battle of Britain. On 30th August 1940 it moved with the unit to Turnhouse and in September 1940 it transferred to 264 Squadron at Kirton
in Lindsey as a replacement aircraft for those lost in August 1940 also as a result of the Battle of Britain. It moved with the unit to Rochford on
29th October 1940 but by the end of 1940 the aircraft had been transferred to 54 O.T.U. at Church Fenton along with a further 23 Defiants for training duties.
Cat.E/2/FB Burnt damage was recorded following the accident on 26th April 1941 at Thorp Arch.