Halifax W1234 at Marston Moor airfield.
On the night of 5th / 6th June 1943 this aircraft was in the process of taking off from Marston Moor for a training flight with 1652 Heavy Conversion Unit when it briefly left the ground and then dropped back onto the concrete. The pilot continued with taking off, raised the undercarriage and undertook the exercise. On return to Marston Moor he attempted to lower the undercarriage but the damage sustained on take off resulted in it jamming retracted. The aircraft was then belly landed on the airfield at Marston Moor at 02.15hrs and it was badly damaged.
Pilot - Sgt George Robert James Duthie RNZAF (415298), of Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand.
Sgt Duthie completed his training and was posted to 158 Squadron. On the night of 13th / 14th July 1943 he was the pilot of Halifax HR720 undertaking Ops to Aachen when the aircraft was attacked by a night-fighter. Six of his crew were able to bale out but he did not survive the crash in Holland. Five of his crew became PoW's but one evaded capture. Duthie was buried at Uden War Cemetery, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands and was twenty two years old. It is highly likely that his crew on this Aachen flight was the same crew he was training with at Marston Moor a month earlier. The photograph of him shown above was found on "http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com".
