Halifax BB285 near Spofforth.
During the afternoon of 24th July 1943 this 1652 Heavy Conversion Unit aircraft took off from Marston Moor airfield at 13.12hrs for the crew to undertake a cross country training flight. Soon after taking off it was seen by witnesses on the ground to be flying in the Spofforth area with the engines running normally but flying very low. The aircraft was then seen to crash close to the old village sewerage works near Spofforth. It struck the ground with the port wing first and the nose and wings were then totally destroyed in the resulting fire from the crash. The airmen in the centre and forward part of the aircraft were all killed. The rear fuselage broke off in the impact and had cartwheeled through the centre section of the aircraft and escaped the fire, remarkably the rear gunner escaped with only minor injuries and was found still in his turret. The crash investigation concluded that the pilot had lost control because rudder control had probably jammed. A locking pin had fallen between the rudder control lever and its mounting in the rear fuselage was found to be the probable cause of the loss of control. A storage bag was positioned in the Halifax above a part of the rudder control mechanism and was used to store the rear fuselage locking equipment when it was on the ground, normally this bag would be fastened shut but it was found open and while it could have fouled the rudder controls itself it was thought more likely that a pin used to lock the rear rudder and ailerons had probably fallen out of the bag and into the rudder mechanism. A hammer was also found within the tailplane of the aircraft during salvage operations and may have been left there for some time.
Pilot - Sgt Edward Leslie Byrne RAFVR (1388520), aged 22, of Edmonton, Middlesex. Buried Edmonton Cemetery, Middlesex.
Flight Engineer - F/Sgt Cyril Brynmore Tingle RAFVR (1654833), aged 19, of Dagenham. Buried Barking (Rippleside) Cemetery, Essex.
Navigator - Sgt William George Richardson RAFVR (1443062), aged 22, of Tunstall, Stoke on Trent. Buried Uttoxeter Cemetery, Staffordshire.
Bomb Aimer? - Sgt John Alexander MacLean Weir RAFVR (982527), of Pollokshields, Glasgow. Buried Craigton Cemetery, Glasgow.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Colin William Nowell RAFVR (1223860). Buried Sutton in Ashfield Cemetery, Nottinghamshire.
Mid Upper Gunner - WO2 Joseph Jean Duclos RCAF (8009A), of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Buried Newport Cemetery, Lincoln.
Rear Gunner - Sgt R Roberts. Injured.
Joseph Jean Duclos was born on 10th July 1919 at Montreal, Quebec, Canada and was the son of Rene and Juliette (nee Bourdeau) Duclos. He enlisted for RCAF service way back on 18th September 1937 in St.Hubert, Quebec as a member of the auxillary air force. I cannot tell from his service file what he was doing between 1937 and 1940 other than serving in the 118 (Bomber) Squadron RCAF. In early 1940 he remustered to serve in the general RCAF and was still serving with 118 (Bomber) Squadron RCAF in Montreal as a W.E.M. (Wireless Electrical Mechanical) operator, his service file gives information that there was no instructor or equipment to be able to train him so he was employed as an RCAF guard for a time. He was eventually given proper wireless operator / air gunnery training in Canada but was taken off the wireless operator course three times because of lack of experience. He then was successful in passing the air gunnery course and was awarded his air gunner's flying badge on 28th March 1942. Once in the UK he trained at 3 AGS, 19 OTU, 207 CF and 1660 CU before posting to 50 Squadron on 7th December 1942. In March 1943 he was posted to 106 Squadron briefly but was reposted to 19 OTU four days later on 18th March 1943. He was finally posted to 1652 CU on 4th July 1943 and died three weeks later. He was probably buried in Lincoln because of his previous links to operational flying from the county.
On 13th September 1940 a WO Edward Lawrence Byrne (621878) was serving with the FIU "Fighter Interception Unit" and flying in Blenheim Z5721 on a night patrol off the French Coast when he and the others in the aircraft baled out and Norman Franks' Fighter Command Losses book states that he became a PoW. He is NOT the same person as killed at Spofforth as is claimed on the list of Battle of Britain aircrew listed on Wikipedia.
Halifax BB285 was built to contract B.124357/40 by the London Passenger Transport Board Ltd. at Leavesden and was taken on charge by 1652 Heavy Conversion Unit at Marston Moor on 21st January 1943. The aircraft may have actually been despatched and permanently attached to D-Flight at Pocklington, which had formed when Pocklington based 102 Conversion Flight was absorbed by 1652 H.C.U. in November 1942. It sustained minor damage at Pocklington on 2nd March 1943 which resulted in a Cat.Ac/FA damage assessment. A repair on site was made and it was returned to 1652 H.C.U. on 27th March 1943. On 24th July 1943 it crashed near Spofforth which resulted in a Cat.E2/FA Burnt damage assessment which saw the aircraft being written off. It took until 8th August 1943 before it was struck off charge on the paperwork.