Hurricane HV894 near Kirkbridge, Bedale.
During the afternoon of 14th May 1943 this 1472 Flight aircraft was being flown on an aerobatics training exercise when it dived into ground near Kirkbridge, between Bedale and Leeming at 14.45hrs. Sadly the pilot was killed in this incident. It was thought likely that either the pilot had passed out prior to the crash or the chain that attached the control column to the aileron mechanism failed.
Pilot - F/O Gilbert Anthony Warde RAFVR (124192), aged 21. Buried Catterick Cemetery, North Yorkshire.
Gilbert Warde was almost certainly born in the West Ham district of Essex in 1921. He received a commission on 1st May 1942 to
the rank of P/O on probation and rose to F/O on probation (war subs) on 1st November 1942.
