Wellington LN394 at East Moor airfield.
On the night of 22nd / 23rd September 1943 432 Squadron aircrews were tasked with operational flights to bomb Hannover. This aircraft failed to get airborne at 18.53hrs as it was leaving East Moor airfield and ran off the northern end of the runway, through the overshoot area for one hundred and fifty yards before the undercarriage collapsed, it skidded to a halt in the ajoining field. The crew made a rapid evacuation of the aircraft but the bomb load did not exploded and was later safely removed. Damage was then sustained to the aircraft's undercarriage, engines and under surfaces. There is police report of an unidentified Wellington crashing near Thrush Farm at around the same time and this probably relates to Wellington LN 394 with the aircraft being in a field at the northern end of the airfield. The pilot had received his officer commission on the same day as this accident. The aircraft was later repaired.
Pilot - P/O Lyndon George Southwood RAFVR (158035).
Navigator - F/Sgt Alan Willett Puffer RCAF (R/105122), of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Bomb Aimer - F/Sgt John Carl Grover RCAF (R/96255).
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner - F/Sgt John Henry Blue RCAF (R/79384).
Rear Gunner - F/Sgt William Norman Chalk RCAF (R/100601).
They flew their first operational flight with 429 Squadron on 12th May 1943 to Duisburg but returned early. They flew with 429 Squadron until August 1943, having flown their last Op with 429 Squadron from East Moor on 3rd August 1943 before the squadron left for Leeming a week later. Five aircrews were posted from 429 Squadron to 432 Squadron on 13th September 1943 and this crew was probably one of these. The incident recorded above was to be the only 432 Squadron Wellington operational flight from East Moor they were part of. 432 Squadron converted to Lancasters the following month but his crew did not return. Nothing more is known of them after this date.
This crew had done the rounds with the RCAF Squadrons in Yorkshire in 1943. On 26th January 1943 Sgt Southwood was flying with 427 Squadron as second pilot in Wellington X3348, the aircraft crashed onto Blackden Edge, Kinder Scout in the Peak District but all his then crew remarkably survived. On 28th February / 1st March 1943 all of those named above were flying on Ops to St.Nazaire in Wellington X3563, they flew too far west on their return and were forced to abandon the aircraft over Ireland, all were soon taken to the border by Irish Army officers; they were not interned.
Lyndon George Southwood receieved a commission on 22nd September 1943 (158035) to P/O on probation (emergency) which was also the same date as the accident at East Moor detailed above. He was promoted to F/O (war subs) on 22nd March 1944 and F/Lt (war subs) on 22nd September 1945.
Alan Puffer received a commission in January 1944.
Wellington LN394 was built to contract B124362/40 by Vickers Armstrong's at Chester and was delivered into MU storage in December 1942. It is believed to have been issued to 432 Squadron at Skipton on Swale when the unit formed on 1st May 1943. It moved with the unit to East Moor on 18th September 1943 and sustained damage of Cat.B/FA in this incident detailed above five days later. It was taken away and repaired in works and on completion of the repair in early 1944 it was issued to 14 OTU at Market Harborough. Here it served until being written off with Cat.E2/FA damage recorded on 30th August 1944 when it hit an electricity pylon shortly after take off and crashed at Welham, Leicestershire, sadly five airmen were killed in this instance.