Whitley Z6660 at Plainville, near Wigginton, York.
A 58 Squadron Whitley at Linton on Ouse.
A field at Plainville was used as a relief landing ground by Linton on Ouse-based aircraft and it is assumed that this incident was the result of an attempted proper landing here rather than a force-landing. On 31st May 1941 this 58 Squadron Whitley was damaged after overshooting a landing at Plainville at 18.00hrs with one of the engines being stopped at the time of the landing. The landing was attempted with the nose down instead of slightly raised so that when the aircraft came in to land the pilot flatted out and it then floated for more than half the distance available to land in. The pilot attempted to turn the aircraft to avoid running into the boundary hedge but it skidded sideways and crashed through it. Both undercarriage legs were torn off and other parts of the aircraft were damaged. One person sustained injuries. There were no No.4 Group aircraft on operational flights on the nights 30th / 31st May or 31st May / 1st June 1941 so I make the assumption that the crew either undertaking a training flight, or more likely moving the aircraft to Plainville away from Linton on Ouse to avoid the attention of enemy activity.
Pilot - P/O George Frank Lambert RAF (63419), of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.
Crew - Names unknown.
Groundcrew - LAC R E Naunton RAF (626401). Injured.
Groundcrew - LAC G C Sellery RAFVR (1118127). Uninjured.
The pilot and his then crew were forced to take to their parachutes on 12th September 1941 on return from an operational flight in Whitley Z6931, the aircraft crashed near the Majestic Hotel in Harrogate. George Lambert received a commission on 3rd April 1941 and made a P/O on probation. Exactly a year later he was made F/O on probation and later
posted to 35 Squadron PFF. On the night of 10th / 11th April 1943 he was flying Halifax DT806 on Ops to Frankfurt when the aircraft was attacked by
a night-fighter over France. With the aircraft badly damaged some of the crew were able to successfully bale out before the aircraft crashed in
France. Four members of his crew were killed and two became PoWs but George Lambert was able to evade capture and returned to the UK. After
promotion to F/Lt he was awarded the DFC, gained for service with 35 Squadron on 16th June 1944. The Citation reads.. "In air operations this
officer has displayed skill, courage and determination of a high order. He has completed a large number of sorties including attacks on such
targets as Berlin, Turin, Frankfurt and Cologne. His keenness has always been evident and his determination to bomb his targets successfully
has won much praise". He was later promoted to (Acting?) S/Ldr and was killed only weeks later still flying with 35 Squadron when, on 5th July
1944, his Lancaster ND731 crashed near Villeneuve-St-Georges. He is buried Emance Communal Cemetery, France. The crash site in France is now
marked by a memorial.
Whitley Z6660 was built to contract 106962/40 by Armstrong Whitworth at Baginton and was delivered directly to 58 Squadron at Linton-on-Ouse
in March 1941. It suffered Cat.R(b) accident on 31st May 1941 as a result of the incident detailed above. The aircraft does not appear to have been
repaired in works but the damage sounds too severe for a repair on site. After this incident no further record exists of it being with 58 Squadron so it may have been taken away and repaired in a factory. It next appears on charge with
the B.O.A.C. as G-AGDW from 17th March 1942 to 15th April 1942 and it was later restored to the Z6660 serial. The aircraft was placed in MU
storage until being issued to 81 OTU at Ashbourne on 10th July 1942 when the unit was formed, it moved with the unit to Tilstock in September
1942 and then to Sleap in January 1944. It was again placed in MU storage in November 1944 before being struck off charge on 31st May 1945 as scrap.