Halifax MZ420 near Tollerton, Easingwold.
This 434 Squadron Halifax took off from Croft at 13.32hrs on 28th October 1944 for an operational flight to Cologne and the crew had bombed the target successfully. On their return to the UK they were diverted to land at Linton on Ouse airfield. Their first attempt at landing was overshot and they climbed away to 2000 feet with a view to going round and to try to land again. During this climb out the starboard outer engine stopped and then caught fire, and after the extinguisher failed to put the fire out the propeller flew off. Fearing a crash the crew then abandoned the aircraft. The aircraft then crashed at 18.58hrs near Fleet Bank Farm, Tollerton and hit a row of trees before coming to earth just east of the modern A19 road between York and Easingwold. The reason for the engine failure was put at complete oil stavation to the engine, but because of the lack of remaining intact aircraft a fully examination was not possible so the full cause was never fully understood.
Pilot - Sgt Frederick Charles Hart RCAF (R/174498).
Flight Engineer - P/O L J Garding RCAF (C/86339). Leander John Garding?
Navigator - F/O H Bruce Hunter RCAF (J/36266).
Bomb Aimer - F/O Reginald W Birch RCAF (J/36273). Died 1999.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Joseph Israel Jules Banville RCAF (R/169357).
Mid Upper Gunner - P/O David L Noble RCAF (J/89157).
Rear Gunner - P/O William E Newman RCAF (J/89191) or (J/89101).
Frederick Hart had flown a total of 243 hours when this incident occurred with 110 hours being on the Halifax type. Hugh Halliday's research states that he was born in Montreal in 1924 and enlisted there in July 1942. Following training at 1664 Heavy Conversion Unit he was posted to 434 Squadron on 27th July 1944. Sgt Hart and his crew were involved in earlier accident, on 7th August 1944 Halifax LK799 swung on take off from Croft and, out of control, hit Halifax LW176 and then crashed into a wall. He received a commission in October 1944 and there is a possibility that he was already commissioned when this incident at Tollerton occurred. He was recommended for the DFC when he had flown thirty six operational flights, flown between 28th July 1944 and 23rd February 1945. The notification of his award appeared in the London Gazette on 20th July 1945 but there was no full citation but the recommendation was more detailed and refers to the incident at Tollerton, it reads.. "Flying Officer Hart has completed a tour of operations totalling thirty-six sorties. The majority of these were against heavily defended targets including Stuttgart, Munich and Dresden. He has at all times displayed courage, devotion to duty and a keen offensive spirit. On one occasion returning from a raid on Cologne he encountered engine failure and resultant fire. Despite being at very low altitude, Flying Officer Hart displayed coolness and excellent airmanship by carrying out a successful abandoning of the aircraft by the whole crew."