Halifax LW385 at Croft airfield.
During the afternoon of 24th June 1944 this 434 Squadron aircraft was to be flown on an operational flight to bomb a target at Bonnetot, France. While taking off off from Croft airfield at 14.43hrs the aircraft became airborne as normal but immediately as the aircraft left the ground the crew attempted to retract the undercarriage too soon. The aircraft sank back towards the ground as the undercarriage begun to retract causing damage to the mechanism. The pilot appears to have remained in control and got the aircraft into the air. Once properly airborne the undercarriage would then not retract. Exactly what happened next is not entirely clear. The aircraft and all four engines sustained Cat.B damage which would suggest that both undercarriage legs collapsed on the subsequent landing. Where the aircraft landed is also not clear. Landing a damaged aircraft back at Croft with the bombs on board would not have been ideal. Carnaby was the nearest emergency landing strip for such problems but the Carnaby station orb does not mention any such damage incident. An entry in a Flying Control log states that one undercarriage leg collapsed and it slid across a perimeter track into a ditch with no mention of the events recorded on the AM Form 1180 prior to this.
Pilot - P/O Frederick Charles Archibald Sawyer RAFVR (174215).
Crew - Names unconfirmed.