Oxford R6378 near Sherburn in Elmet airfield.
On 27th May 1942 the pilot of this 15 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit aircraft attempted to land at Sherburn airfield at 14.30hrs following, or as part of, a training flight but he was then forced to overshoot the landing. He raised the undercarriage too soon, the aircraft then sank and clipped the ground with the starboard wing. The pilot got the aircraft into the air but and began to climb away but while making a starboard turn at 50 feet above the ground it stalled and crashed into the overshoot area. The pilot sustained injuries.
Oxford R6378 was built to contract B.20356/39 by The De Havilland Aircraft Co. Ltd. at Hatfield and was awaiting collection in August 1940 but was placed into RAF M.U. storage. On 26th October 1940 it was taken on charge by 15 S.F.T.S. at Kidlington and they moved to Leconfield on 28th March 1942. The following day 15 S.F.T.S. was re-designated 15 (P)A.F.U.. As a result of the damage sustained on 27th May 1942 Cat.E2/FA damage was the assessment and it was written off.
Pilot - Sgt Robert Edgar Knights RAFVR (1336181). Injured.
Robert Edgar Knights later served with 619 Squadron and the famous 617 ("Dambuster") Squadron, and was awarded both the DFC and DSO. Robert Edgar Knights was born on 18th January 1921 in Fulham, London and enlisted in 1941. While training in the USA he was forced to bale out of an aircraft and escaped injury. His obituary n the Telegraph newspaper makes reference to him sustaining injuries in baling out of a second aircraft while training in England and the aircraft crashing through the roof of a barn. I would suggest this refers to a different incident than detailed above however the exact incident is not known at the time of creating this webpage. There is a possibility this occurred around September 1942 when notification of him being injured was printed in Flight Magazine. He completed his training and was posted to 619 Squadron. He received a commission on 10th June 1943 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) and was promoted to F/O (probationary)(war subs) on 10th December 1943. For service with 619 (and 617?) Squadron he was awarded the DFC, Gazetted on 21st April 1944. No citation has been found at the time of creating this webpage. Posted to 617 Squadron on 28th January 1944 he flew in numerous raids, this was well before his DFC notification came through and possibly some of his actions with 617 Squadron were taken into account when it was granted. He was promoted to Acting F/Lt on 19th August 1944. He flew in the raid that sunk the German battleship Tirpitz on 12th November 1944 and this was his last operational flight as he was posted away from the squadron days later. For his actions with 617 Squadron he was awarded the DSO, Gazetted on 12th January 1945, the citation reads.."This officer has displayed the highest qualities of devotion to duty in operations against the enemy. Since being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Flight Lieutenant Knights has completed a large number of sorties, many of them against well defended and difficult targets. He has invariably pressed home his attacks with great determination and precision and his coolness and courage under enemy fire has been most inspiring. Flight Lieutenant Knights took part in all three attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz. In the final operation, during which the vessel was sunk, this pilot pressed home his attack with great resolution. His was one of the several bombs which straddled the vessel." He later flew as a pilot for the BOAC and finally retired as a Boeing 747 pilot with British Airways in 1976. He died in the Guildford area in December 2004.