Halifax LW543 at Burn airfield.
During the early hours of 10th May 1944 this 578 Squadron aircraft was flown on an operational flight to bomb a coastal defensive position at Morsalines, France and the crew took off from Burn airfield at 01.55hrs. They released their bomb load from 9,000 feet at 03.39hrs and made for home. At 05.34hrs the aircraft landed at Burn but the tail wheel fork broke causing the tail wheel to collapse. Minor damage to the aircraft resulted.
Pilot - P/O Maurice Charles Day RAFVR (172955).
Navigator - F/Sgt Ambrose Christopher Pugh RAFVR (1396289).
Bomb Aimer - Sgt Lewis Randall Barber RAFVR (1620366).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Jack Stanley Francis Morrish RAFVR (1603335).
Air Gunner - Sgt Kenneth Nicholson RAFVR (1594726).
Air Gunner - Sgt Derick Arthur Roland Parham RAFVR (1853953).
Flight Engineer - Sgt Walter Broughton RAFVR (1525205).
All of the above apart from the flight engineer were killed in the crash of Halifax MZ696 at Balkholme on 20th July 1944. The flight engineer died hours after MZ696 crashed when Halifax MZ617 crashed in the Netherlands.