Halifax LL142 near Skipton on Swale airfield.
In the early hours of 18th July 1944 this 1659 Heavy Conversion Unit aircraft was to have been used to fly a night circuits and landings training exercise that would have seen a series short flights. There is no information in the available documentation to suggest that the exercise was being carried out anywhere other than at base of Topcliffe. At around midnight the aircraft took off and having climbed away to around 300 feet above the ground the starboard outer engine developed problems so was shut down. The crew then attempted to make a landing on what was described purely as "aerodrome" and other accounts of this incident presume it was Topcliffe. The crew could not land so had to fly another circuit of the airfield and during which the starboard inner engine then failed. Unable to maintain height a forced landing was then made in a field around half a mile north of the airfield at Skipton on Swale. The aircraft over-ran this field and came to rest in the River Swale at 00.15hrs. There were eight airmen on board; five sustained injuries and three escaped injury. Six of those on board are named below. I would hazard a guess at F/O Lowe's flight engineer and possibly F/O Bell's flight engineer were also on board but their names are not confirmed.
Pilot (instructor) - F/O David Dunbar Graham DFC RCAF (J/18335).
Pilot (pupil) - F/O J I Bell (J/26232). Injured.
Pilot (pupil) - F/O J W Lowe RCAF (J/35187). Injured
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt J T Danberger RCAF (R/196961). Injured.
Air Gunner - W/O F G W Dawe RCAF (R/74006). Injured.
Air Gunner - Sgt G S Otto RCAF (R/252997). Injured.
Flight Engineer? - (Possibly) Sgt Philip George Johnson RAFVR (1592615).
One other - Name unknown.
Sgt Otto was posted to 434 Squadron on 16th September 1944 but from 1664 Heavy Conversion Unit.
F/O Lowe's navigator was P/O K H Cutt RCAF (J/37171) and his bomb aimer was Sgt W J Leggate RCAF (R/190817) when they were posted in to 1659 H.C.U. on 26th June 1944. Lowe, Danberger, Dawe, Johnson plus Cutt and Leggate were all posted to 426 Squadron on 9th August 1944.
F/O Bell appears to have been the most seriously injured and it took until 10th October 1944 for his to complete his H.C.U. training when he was posted to 427 Squadron.