Halifax LW462 at Croft airfield.
On the night of 27th / 28th April 1944 this 431 Squadron aircraft was used to flying an operational flight to bomb Montzen. The exact time of take off from Croft is not recorded in the squadron records but appears to have been around the 23.30hrs time. The crew released their bomb load onto the target area from 14,500 feet at 01.45hrs. After landing at Croft at around 04.30hrs the pilot began to taxi around the airfield. The AM Form 1180 is hard to read and appears to state that the pilot turned the wrong way on reaching the end of the runway and taxied rather fast on the wrong perimeter track. An MT vehicle was on the perimeter track and was moving toward the aircraft, the driver of which steered off the track onto the grass. The pilot of the aircraft also turned off the concrete but the brake pressure was too low to stop the aircraft, it crashed through a nissen hut and ran into a ditch. The aircraft was fairly seriously damaged that saw a Cat.B damage assessment which meant it was repairable but in a works factory.
Pilot - WO2 Charles John Campbell RCAF (R/112240).
Navigator - WO2 Cyril Simeon Barneale RCAF (R/128361).
Air Bomber - F/O Stuart Marvin Preston RCAF (J/25123).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - WO2 Andrew Laturnus RCAF (R/163628).
Flight Engineer - Sgt John Duncan MacPherson RAFVR (1823549).
Air Gunner - Sgt Earl Dwight Empey RCAF (R/207928).
Air Gunner - Sgt Alvin Edward Yarington RCAF (R/197267).