During the afternoon of 23rd April 1944 the crew of this 78 Squadron aircraft took off from Breighton airfield for the crew to undertake a training flight. By 15.58hrs the aircraft had reached 2,000 feet and passed close behind another Halifax. The aircraft then entered a near vertical dive, with there being limited height to regain control the pilot had managed to get the aircraft to roughly a firty five degree angle when it struck the ground just south of the village of Sutton upon Derwent. Sadly all but the rear gunner were killed in the crash. There were two theories as to what had happened. One was that the slipstream of passing close to the other aircraft had effected this one causing a loss of control but this was then partly dismissed in favour of a fault with the aircraft's auto pilot. Six of the crew were killed as a result of the accident.
Pilot - F/Sgt Charles Cliffe Owen Hood RAFVR (1339243), aged 22, of Tiverton. Buried Tiverton Cemetery, Devon.
Flight Engineer - Sgt Harry Bain Allan RAFVR (1821830), aged 18, of Dundee. Buried Dundee Eastern Cemetery.
Navigator - F/Sgt John Watt RAF (659103), aged 24, of Newtyle. Buried Newtyle Cemetery, Angus.
Air Bomber - F/O Horace Raymond Goddard RAFVR (152303), aged 29, of Watton. Buried Watton Churchyard, Norfolk.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Leonard Shaiman RAFVR (1612001), aged 21, of Willesden. Buried Willesden Jewish Cemetery, Middlesex.
Air Gunner - Sgt Harry Stanley Nelson Steel RAFVR (1457502), aged 20, of Ore, Hastings. Buried Hastings Cemetery, Sussex.
Air Gunner - Sgt Bernard Frederick Sheerin RAFVR (1587508). Seriously injured.
Horace Goddard received a commission to the rank of P/O on probation on 28th May 1943 and rose to F/O six months later.
In June 2006 historians Eric Barton, Albert Pritchard and Ken Reast tracked down roughly where this aircraft crashed and after seeking permission from the landowner located a few small pieces on the surface to confirm the location. The photograph above shows a collection of bits they found but unfortunately Eric appears not to have taken a photograph of the general area.