On 20th February 1944 this 158 Squadron the crew of this aircraft took off from Lissett airfield at 00.07hrs to undertake an operational flight to bomb Leipzig. The climb away from taking off was normal and everything appeared normal until the aircraft entered the cloudbase that was present at around 2,000 feet, after which the aircraft was lost in the cloud. Shortly afterwards an aircraft was heard to be in a dive with it's engines running, it emerged from the cloud and then crashed in a field near Little Atwick at 00.15hrs. As the aircraft was carrying a full bombload an explosion tore the aircraft apart and it was scattered over a large area of the field. A detailed examination was carried out at the crash site which found that the aircraft was Halifax HX351 and that the pilot had managed to nearly pull out of the dive when it hit the ground, the angle it struck was at a fairly shallow angle. Some distance from the main wreckage scatter the investigation team found part of the starboard tail elevator and that this must have broken away before the aircraft hit the ground. It was possible that the aircraft had lost power while climbing away, possibly down to the engine carburettors icing up, this may have caused the aircraft to stall and dive towards the ground. The elevator had probably broken away because of the stressed placed upon it when trying to pull out of the dive at high speed. A detailed account of this incident is given in Bill Norman's book "Failed to Return". A Memorial was erected on or close to site and is currently in the middle of a track through the field.
Pilot - P/O Peter Milton Jennings RAFVR (157100), aged 28. Buried Little Milton Churchyard, Oxfordshire.
Flight Engineer - P/O Charles Joseph Seymour RAFVR (160592), aged 22, of Rolvenden. Buried Rolvenden Churchyard, Kent.
Navigator - P/O Norman Caffery RAFVR (169502), aged 21. Buried Kimblesworth Churchyard, Durham.
Bomb Aimer - F/Sgt Harold Elfed Jones RAFVR (1537023), aged 21, of Penmaenmawr. Buried Penmaenmawr Cemetery, Caernarvon.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt George Frank Gillings RAFVR (1393396), aged 21, of Carshalton, Surrey. Buried Streatham Cemetery, London.
Air Gunner - F/Sgt Samuel Price Morris RAFVR (1503563), aged 21. Buried Llanfechan Churchyard, Montgomeryshire.
Air Gunner - P/O Gerald Robert Fitzsimmons RCAF (J/86434), aged 22, of Gadsby, Alberta, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (F/A/20).
A general view of the crash site and of the memorial plaque.
Left to right : Jennings, Seymour, Caffrey, Jones, Gillings and Morris.
Peter Jennings received a commission to the rank of P/O on probation on 31st August 1943, Norman Caffrey received a commission on 15th December 1943 and Charles Seymour a commission on 26th October 1943.
Gerald Fitzsimmons was born on 25th November 1921 at Gadsby, Alberta, Canada and was the son of Michael Scott and Emma Viola (nee Clapperton) Fitzsimmons. After leaving high school in 1940 he worked on the family farm at Gadsby. He enlisted for RCAF service on 10th June 1941 at Edmonton and after training in Canada he was awarded his air gunner's flying badge on 18th December 1942. On arrival in the UK he trained at 24 OTU and 1663 HCU before posting to 158 Squadron on 4th July 1943. He was coming to the end of his Tour at 158 Squadron and appears to have received a backdated commission after his death to 19th February 1944.