On 11th August 1943 this aircraft had just taken off from Sherburn in Elmet airfield to fly to Hendon when the auto-pilot system was accidently switched on, this caused the trim of the aircraft to change and the aircraft lost height. It crashed into a field just off the eastern edge of the airfield and caught fire. The four airmen in the aircraft escaped the fire but all sustained injuries. The aircraft was used at the A.F.E.E. to tow Hotspur, Waco and Horsa gliders.
Pilot - G/Cpt Sydney Richard Ubee RAF (24182). Injured.
Passenger - LAC A E Acton. Injured.
Passenger - LAC A Hickman. Injured.
Passenger - AC1 G R Hursell. Injured.
Sydney Ubee's life is well documented in his auto-biography and now on the internet and I do not want to simply copy these works. He was born in 1903 and was granted a commission in the RAF on 9th December 1927 as P/O on probation. He would be graded as P/O on 9th December 1928 and rise to F/O on 9th June 1929, F/Lt on 1st April 1933, S/Ldr onn 1st October 1937, W/Co (temp) on 1st June 1940 and G/Cpt (temp) on 29th April 1942. Under his commission he was later made W/Co (War subs) on 29th October 1942, W/Co on 1st December 1943, G/Cpt on 1st October 1946, A/Cdre on 1st July 1951, Acting AVM on 1st March 1954 and AVM on 1st July 1954.
During the 1930's he served with 70 Squadron and 60 Squadron as well as holding positions in the Air Staff, HQ No.1 (Indian) Group. He was awarded the Air Force Cross on 2nd January 1939. During the war he was commanding officer of 31 Squadron in 1941 and later became the commanding officer of the Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment (A.F.E.E.), he was probably in this position when the Hudson mishap on 11th August 1943 occurred. Post-war he remained in the RAF and was awarded a C.B. on 1st January 1952. He retired from the RAF in 1959 and died in 1998.
Historians Albert Pritchard, Eric Barton and Ken Reast sought permission from the landowner and located small fragments on the surface at the crash site in August 2004 to confirm the crash location. The items shown in the photograph above were retained by Eric following the visit.