Halifax BB218 near Bickerton.
On 24th March 1943 the crew of this 1652 Heavy Conversion Unit aircraft were undertaking a training flight and had taken off from Marston Moor at 14.50hrs. Just over two hours later the crew were returning to base when the port outer engine caught fire, the crew attempted to put out the fire by switching off the fuel supply to the engine which had some effect but while turning the aircraft to make a landing at Marston Moor the aircraft turned into the wind which caused the flames set the fuselage on fire. The pilot attempted to return to base but the aircraft crashed at 17.10hrs near Mosscarrs Farm, Bickerton. Sadly three of the crew died as a result of the accident and are listed first. The injured were treated at Station Sick Quarters at Rufforth before being taken to York Military Hospital.
Halifax BB218 was built to contract B.124357/40 by the London Passenger Transport Board Ltd. at Leavesden. The aircraft was taken on charge by 1652 Heavy Conversion Unit at Marston Moor on 21st August 1942. As a result of the crash on 24th March 1943 Cat.E2/FA damage was the damage assessment and it was struck off charge on 2nd April 1943.
Pilot - Sgt Frank Heydon Thomas RAFVR (1238300), aged 21, of Weston Favell. Cremated Northampton Crematorium.
Flight Engineer - Sgt Rino Guiseppe Arturo Platoni RAFVR (1455822), aged 21, of Italian extraction but late of Finchley, London. Buried St.Pancras Cemetery, London.
Navigator - Sgt Kenneth William Peverley RAFVR (1334693), aged 19, of Dover, Kent. Cremated Harrogate Crematorium, Yorkshire.
Second Pilot - Sgt Stanley Jewell Tibbs RCAF (R/122345), of Berkeley, California, USA. Seriously injured.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt James Alexander Phillips RAFVR (1291776). Injured.
Air Gunner - Sgt Gerald Spencer Worboys RAFVR (1338717). Injured.
Kenneth Peverley's name is commemorated on a memorial plaque in the chapel of the war grave plot at Stonefall Cemetery. His father Watson Peverley died on while serving on the SS Storaa on 3rd November 1943 and he is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial.
Stanley Tibbs was born on 28th June 1919 in California, USA. He survived this incident at Bickerton and recovered from his injuries, being reported as "better" by 21st April 1943 but according to a US newspaper of the era he was expected to be posted back the USA to recuperate in July 1943. He may have returned to the UK though as his wife's obituary found on the internet states that they met while in the UK and that he later took her back to the USA and they married in 1946. His wife was a registered nurse who worked for the British Red Cross and it is possible that they had met while he was being treated for his injuries. Stanley Tibbs died in January 1995.
F/Sgt Phillips was later killed on 8th May 1944 while serving with 178 Squadron. He was twenty two years old and is buried in Bucharest War Cemetery. While originally from London he had married a Yorkshire girl who lived in Harrogate.