Halifax LW421 near Thorpe Underwood.
During the afternoon of 1st July 1944 this 420 Squadron aircraft was flown on an operational flight to bomb a target at Biennais and took off from Tholthorpe airfield at 15.13hrs. The crew released the bomb load using GEE onto the target area from 12,000 feet at 16.57hrs because thick cloud prevented them seeing it. On their return to Yorkshire both the port inner and port outer engines failed before they reached an airfield. The port inner propeller was feathered but the port outer was windmilling. Whether the crew were diverting to Linton on Ouse or they whether they had not passed the Linton on Ouse area whilst heading north toward Tholthorpe is not yet known. The Halifax could fly on two engines but with one windmilling and making turns would have been hazards with no power on one side of the aircraft. That said, the aircraft must have been loosing height fairly rapidly because the crew could not reach an airfield to land. At 18.50hrs it was force landed in a field at "Henley's Farm, near Little Ouseburn" and in doing so the aircraft was badly damaged. While a fire broke out after the crash all escaped. Unfortunately the pilot sustained minor injuries and the flight engineer sustained more serious injuries as he was probably stood beside the pilot at the time of the crash. Everyone else escaped injury, probably all being in the rest position. A farmer met three of the crew heading toward a farmhouse, two of the crew were helping the third (the flight engineer) who had broken his leg. He was later taken to the military hospital at Naburn for treatment. This crew were posted in to 420 Squadron from 1666 H.C.U. on 15th June 1944. The flight engineer was posted out on 11th July 1944, I thank his daughter for contacting me.
"Henley's Farm" was probably the farm owned by the Henley family rather than a farm name of that title. Research locally by Dave Donaghy has found the aircraft actually crashed on farmland near Shacklefield Farm, around a mile east of Thorpe Underwood and crossed over Sally Close Beck before coming to rest. Guy Jefferson MBE created an early flying accident in Yorkshire database that was once on display at the Yorkshire Air Museum, as a young boy Guy visited this site within an hour of it occurring and also recorded it as being near Shacklefield Farm on his database, also noting that it killed seven cows.
Pilot - P/O Allan Manchee Caine RCAF (J/86111). Head injuries.
Navigator - F/O Robert Edward Goatcher RCAF (J/29970).
Air Bomber - F/Sgt John R King RCAF (R/151616).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt J L Danberger RCAF (R/186679).
Flight Engineer - Sgt Herbert Christopher Monument RAFVR (1100331). Broken leg.
Air Gunner - Sgt S T Frayn RCAF (R/155814).
Air Gunner - Sgt W E Cruickshank RCAF (R/219717).