Halifax LK696 at Croft airfield.
On the evening of 20th January 1944 this 434 Squadron aircraft was flown on an operational flight to bomb Berlin and took off from Croft airfield at 16.17hrs. The crew released their bomb load onto the target area from 20,000 feet at 19.42hrs. On their return to Yorkshire, by the time they reached Croft the aircraft was running low on fuel and so much so that on the approach to land a problem with the undercarriage saw them go on to make a landing rather than fly an overshoot to try and rectify the issue. On making a landing at Croft at 23.58hrs the port undercarriage leg collapsed.
Pilot - F/O James Walter Hammond RCAF (J/10645).
Navigator - F/O George Everette Steel-Davies RCAF (J/22138).
Air Bomber - P/O Irven Norris-Jones RCAF (J/25076).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Bernard Newton RAFVR (1575605).
Flight Engineer - Sgt Frank Williams RAFVR (2216151).
Air Gunner - Sgt C Scott RCAF (R/167401).
Air Gunner - Sgt G Martin RCAF (R/188222).