On the 7th September 1943 those on board this 1658 Heavy Conversion Unit aircraft took off from Riccall airfield at 10.05hrs to undertake a fighter affiliation training flight, on board was a regular crew of seven trainees working up to becoming an operational crew and with them were three instructors. The exercise involved a fighter aircraft, in this case a Hurricane, making simulated attacking passes towards the Halifax, with the crew of the Halifax keeping lookout for it and the instructor pilot of the Halifax would then demonstrate taking evasive action. The Hurricane pilot made several attacks and later stated that the evasive action taken was very effective during all but the final one. When the final attacking pass was made the Halifax initially went into a 90 degree bank and the starboard outer engine emitted a considerable amount of smoke, the aircraft then rolled over on to its back and lost height, it appeared to witnesses to have lost its starboard outer propeller at this stage, and having been out of control for a time was then partly recovered from being inverted. After almost levelling out again it then went into a spin, the starboard outer engine then broke away from the wing and it dived into the ground. The aircraft crashed at midday at the edge Intake Platation near Wressle. All ten airmen flying in the Halifax were sadly killed. A detailed examination of the wreckage followed. By chance the detached starboard outer engine landed in the main wreckage trail and was quickly proven to have broken away before the aircraft hit the ground. Various other portions of the aircraft were discovered to have become detached from the aircraft as it fell and were found some distance from the main wreckage concentration.
The AM Form 1180 gives the location of the accident as being at "Newsholme Plantation". By using old mapping Newsholme Plantation was half a mile east of Intake Plantation but the lettering of "Newsholme" on the Wartime mapping crossed both areas of woodland and, this I believe, is why the location was give as what it was. A small memorial plaque was placed in Intake Plantation close to the crash site of Halifax DT524 in more recent years but it unfortunately commemorates the wrong accident of Halifax JD151 that crashed two miles away and a month later. This appears to have been because the information that was on display at the Yorkshire Air Museum relating to where JD151 and DT524 crashed were mixed up and whomever arranged for the memorial probably used that information as being correct. Historians Albert Pritchard, Eric Barton and Ken Reast located small fragments on the surface just outside of the woodland in 1999 with permission from the landowner, confirming the crash location. They also located the correct crash site of Halifax JD151 near Bowthorpe Hall (a mile east of South Duffield). Accessing the memorial is down the line of mitigated trespassing as there is no public right of way or public access to the woodland, also a deep water-filled ditch follows the public road around the woodland which makes accessing it less than easy. The memorial is visible from the south-eastern most corner of the woodland from the road but to access it I had to go in through a field gate slightly nearer Wressle, follow the edge of the field and enter the woodland from the west. There is a worn path into the woodland from the field on this side. Once into the wood one has to battle through the undergrowth toward the memorial.
Pilot (Instructor) - F/O Maynard Meyer Caplan DFM RAFVR (142555), aged 27, of Bromley, Kent. Buried East Ham Jewish Cemetery, London.
Pilot - F/O Lawrence Gay Dunlop RCAF (J/20568), aged 20, of Mayenod, Saskatchewan, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (C/B/15).
Flight Engineer (Instructor) - P/O Arthur Wilfred Bailey RAFVR (143799), aged 22, of St.Albans. Buried St.Albans Cemetery, Hertfordshire.
Flight Engineer - Sgt Alan Basil Granville Williams RAFVR (1653142), aged 19, of Ystrad Mynach. Buried Ystrad Mynach Churchyard, Glamorgan.
Navigator - Sgt Frank Reynolds RAFVR (1497496), aged 23, of Eccleshill, Bradford. Buried Calverley Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Bomb Aimer - F/Sgt Samuel Rutherford Parker RCAF (R/132048), aged 23, of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (C/B/17).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Edward Leo McCartie RAFVR (1146785), aged 22, of Middlesbrough. Buried Middlesbrough (Thorntree) R.C. Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Air Gunner - Sgt Alfred John Gamble RAFVR (1391617), aged 22, of Eltham, London. Buried Selby Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Air Gunner - F/Sgt Gordon Gibson RAFVR (1349486), aged 21, of Ellon. Buried Ellon Cemetery, Aberdeen.
Air Gunner (Instructor) - F/O James Low RCAF (J/17294), aged 24, of Kenogami, Quebec, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (C/B/16).
Maynard Caplan received a commission on 6th February 1943 to P/O on probation (emergency), rising to F/O (war subs) on 6th August 1943. He was awarded the DFM in May 1943 for serviec with 158 Squadron, after his commission but for work done before his commission. The citation has been located in Flight Magazine under the headline "Three-engined Expert", the citation reads.. "F/Sgt Caplan has just completed a most successful tour of operations, during which he has taken part in bombing attacks against targets in Germany and Italy, often in the face of intense fighter opposition and heavy ground defences. On three occasions this airman has brought his aircraft safely back to base on three engines, and he has also obtained some excellent photographs." F/O Caplan DFM was posted for instructional duties at 1658 HCU after completing his Tour. He was also Mentioned in Despatches after his death with a huge number of service personnel on 14th January 1944.
Arthur Bailey had earlier served with 102 Squadron and had survived the crash of Halifax W1248 at Low Catton on 2nd September 1942. He received a commission on 5th April 1943 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) and was posted to 1658 HCU in 1943 to instruct.
Samuel Parker was born on 23rd July 1920 in Inellan, Scotland and was the son of Samuel Rutherford (Snr) and Elizabeth Riddell (nee Henderson) Parker. His parents were both born in the UK and his father had been awarded the Military Cross for service in the First World War. He and his family moved to Saskatchewan, Canada before 1927 and he was studying at Queens University (Saskatchewan?) when he enlisted for RCAF service on 17th September 1941 in Regina. He initially began training as a pilot but later switched to air bomber training and was awarded his air bomber's flying badge on 18th December 1942. On arrival in the UK he trained at 19 OTU and was then posted to 1658 HCU on 19th August 1943.
James Low was born on 8th April 1919 in Greenock, Scotland and was the son of Richard Leven and Elizabeth (nee McDonald) Low. The family moved from Scotland to Quebec, Canada when James was around five years old and after leaving school he began working as a lab assistant in a paper mill at Kenogami, Quebec. He enlisted for RCAF service on 29th August 1940 in Chicoutimi, Quebec and trained as an air gunner, he was awarded an air gunnery flying badge on 15th September 1941. He arrived in the UK in Autumn 1942 and after training at 22 OTU he was posted to 419 Squadron on 18th May 1942. He was then posted back to 22 OTU on 12th September 1942 and received a commission on 30th January 1943. He was finally posted to 1658 HCU on 9th June 1943.
Lawrence Dunlop was born on 7th June 1923 in Mayenod, Saskatchewan, Canada and was the son of George Herbert and Eva Bessie (nee Moore) Dunlop. After leaving high school in 1940 he began working in farming locally. He enlisted for RCAF service in Regina on 1st August 1941 for aircrew duties and trained as a pilot, following basic training in Canada he was awarded his pilot's wings on 6th November 1942 and received a commission on the same date. He was then posted to the UK soon after and trained at 18 (P)AFU, 3 (P)AFU and 19 OTU before posting to 1658 HCU on 19th August 1943.
Sgt McCartie's and Sgt Gamble's graves across Yorkshire.