On 26th February 1941 some 126 aircraft of various types were tasked with bombing two targets in Cologne, 106 of these aircraft managed to bomb the target. Whitley T4148 took off from Dishforth at 19.01hrs but did not make it as far as the target because the 51 Squadron aircraft's suffered a generator failure on the flight over the North Sea so the pilot turned the aircraft around and made for home. When it returned to Yorkshire the weather was not great and in bad visibility the aircraft overshot the Vale of York, the exact events of how the aircraft came to end up on the snow covered moorland on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales are not yet known but the aircraft was not flying high enough and struck snow covered high ground. The time for the incident is given as 19.46hrs; only 45 minutes after take off so the aircraft cannot have got very far before the crew turned it around. The 51 Squadron ORB does not state the time the aircraft crashed. The Squadron ORB does add extra information in that Dishforth Operations Room received word at 07.52hrs that the aircraft had crashed but then no further news was received by them until the crew arrived at Masham Police Station at 17.00hrs. The RAF's Form 1180 appears to confuse the reason for the flight; while mentioning it was an operational flight it also gives the reason for the flight as being to "test engines and generator etc", such tests were generally were done as part of an air-test prior to taking off for the actual operation not as the operation was begun. The Form 1180 also states there was no fire on impact.
The Whitley flew into a fairly flat area of moorland on Scrafton Moor to the west of West Agra Farm, Healey and the area was covered in snow at the time, some of the incendiaries that the aircraft was carrying caught fire. The crew were lucky and escaped without serious injury and as the aircraft crashed into deep snow it is thought that this cushioned the impact. The fire is believed to have been put out by the crew throwing snow on the burning incendiaries. Through contact with the pilot's grandson additional information has come to light; after the crash and the fire the crew genuinely feared that they would die of exposure in the snow. He mentioned that the crew were disoriented due to the shock and being temporarily blinded but after stumbling around blindly for some time they happened to find a farmhouse by the feint light shining through a window. They were taken in by the occupants and looked after and awaited help arriving.
Pilot - Sgt Thomas Charles Wall RAFVR (740012).
Pilot - Sgt Walker RAF (Possibly Sgt J Walker RAF (966031/966081?)).
Observer? - Sgt Chappell RAF.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner? - Sgt Jackson RAF (Probably Sgt Arthur Jackson RAF (939087)).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner? - Sgt Chapman RAF (Possibly Sgt Maxwell Norman Chapman).
Thomas Wall received a commission on 21st February 1942 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) and rose through the ranks to F/O on probation (war subs) on 1st October 1942 and F/Lt (war subs) on 21st February 1944. After this incident in Yorkshire he probably completed his Tour and later would see service in the Western Desert & Italy. He also served as an instructor. After the war he became a doctor, emigrated to Australia and took up a position as a medical officer at the RAAF East Sale airbase. He died in the 1990s. I thank his grandson, Mr Seb Wall, for contacting me in June 2013 and for the additional information he was kind enough to provide this account.
F/Sgt Arthur Jackson was killed on 10th May 1941 flying in Whitley P5106 on Ops to Ludwigshafen when the aircraft was shot down over Holland by a night-fighter. He was from Sheffield, Yorkshire, aged 20 and is buried in Eindhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery.
Nothing is known about the other members of the crew, their full identities are not given on the pages of the Operation Record Book.
I carried out a long search for this crash site in Summer 2006 and again in Summer 2013 but failed to locate anything aircraft related; the area was over two feet deep in heather on my first trip and shorter in a slightly different area during the second trip. Very little remains at any high ground Whitley site in Yorkshire and as this crash site was probably contained in a small area finding the location some seventy years on is hard but the search will continue. These searches were made before I had seen a copy of the AM Form 78 that suggests that the aircraft was recovered with the aim of repairing it. If this was the case I doubt very much will have been left on the site but that said if one finds the exact place then there should be few small bits to see.
Whitley T4148 was built to contract 38599/39 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd at Baginton. It was allotted to 27 MU on 8th August 1940 and was received by them on 15th August 1940. On 16th August 1940 it was flown to 4 MU / Rolls Royce and the aircraft's AM Form 78 states that it was then taken on charge by 7 Squadron on 18th September 1940 at Leeming but this must have been an error as they were flying Stirlings. On 26th September 1940 it was returned to 4 MU / Rolls Royce. On 20th October 1940 it was taken on charge by 10 Squadron at Leeming. It's stay with 10 Squadron was brief as it was taken on charge by 51 Squadron at Dishforth on 3rd November 1940. On 7th December 1940 it was being used operationally when it appears to have been slightly damaged by flak which injured the pilot, F/Lt Ker. While over the target area the aircraft suffered an engine failure so on their return to England the crew landed at Tangmere. The damage must have only been slight and a repair on site was almost certainly made (or the engine fault was fixed and the flak damage was repaired back in Yorkshire). as a result of the crash in the Pennines on 26th February 1941 the initial damage asssessment apears to have been Cat.B/FA. The aircraft's AM Form 78 states that it was received by a factory Service section on 26th March 1941 which suggests that the aircraft was recovered from the crash site and was initially considered for repair. It was not until 18th April 1941 that the aircraft was struck off charge. Cat.E2/FB damage was the damage assessment.