Halifax MZ828 at Skipton on Swale.
On 5th August 1944 the crew of this 433 Squadron aircraft were tasked with a daylight trip to bomb flying bomb launch sites at St-Leu-d'Esserent, north of Paris, and they took off from Skipton on Swale at 10.38hrs. Over the target the aircraft was hit by flak in the starboard outer engine which badly damaged it and the propeller had to be feathered. The crew managed to return to Yorkshire and were about to land at their home airfield when the pilot pulled out of their first approach to land opting to go around again for another approach. While the aircraft was attempting to go around the undercarriage was raised but the flaps would not go up - normal precedure was to lower the flaps to slow the aircraft for landing but to raise them when normal flying or climbing. The pilot applied full power to try and stop the aircraft from stalling in the air, it entered a sharp uncontrolled turn to starboard which took the aircraft over Skipton on Swale village. The aircraft lost height and clipped trees and then the top of Skipton Hall before striking a large elm tree on the village green at 13.35hrs. This tree stopped the aircraft and most of the aircraft remained within the village green are but unfortunately a small boy was killed by parts of the aircraft which were thrown into his garden in which he was playing. Two members of the crew were killed in the crash while the remaining five airmen had taken to their crash positions and escaped with injuries. Two female civilians were also injured and two properties damaged.
Also of interest is that this crew's regular rear gunner, Sgt Ray Beaudette, had been on sick leave as he was recovering from injuries that he and his pilot has sustained in a motorcycle accident some weeks before. His pilot had only just returned to operational flying but was having trouble in operating the Halifax's rudder controls having suffered ankle injuries. Ray Beaudette was still attending hospital appointments and was stood near the telephone box on the village green waiting for an ambulance to take him to Northallerton hospital when he saw the aircraft was about to crash and was able to run clear. It was only after the crash that he found that it was his own crew had crashed and he found himself been taken to Northallerton hospital with those injured in the aircraft crash.
Pilot - F/O James Robert Harrison RCAF (J/21448), aged 20, of Crossfield, Alberta, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (E/A/3).
Flight Engineer - Sgt Dennis Lawson Whitbread RAFVR (1624919), aged 22, of Kempston. Buried Kempston, Bedfordshire. Died of injuries.
Civilian - Master Kenneth Battensby, aged 5. Buried Skipton on Swale Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Navigator - F/O James Frederick Kinder RCAF (J/20875), of Preston (Ontario, Canada?). Seriously injured.
Bomb Aimer - F/O Edwin Tauno Widenoja RCAF (J/27281), of Port Arthur. Seriously injured. Died 2000 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/O Lorne E Dufresne RCAF (J/24065), of Sturgeon Falls. Injured.
Mid Upper Gunner - F/O Alan Bourne RCAF (R/256048). Injured.
Rear Gunner - P/O Norman Sydney Godfrey RAF (171881). Injured.
Civilian - Woman, name unknown. Seriously injured.
Civilian - Woman, name unknown. Dangerously injured.
James Harrison and his gravestone at Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery. James Harrison was born 23rd September 1923 in Crossfield, Alberta, Canada and was the son of John George and Pearl Nama (nee Broadworth) Harrison. He was still at high school in Crossfield when he enlisted for RCAF service on 30th September 1941 in Calgary. After basic training in Canada he was awarded his PIlot's Wings on 4th December 1942 and also received a commission on the same date. He left Canada in late-June 1943 for service in the UK, arriving on 7th July 1943 and was then posted to A.C.O.S. (Air Crew Officers School) and then trained at 23 OTU (from 26th October 1943) and 1659 HCU (from 8th March 1944) before posting to 433 Squadron on 1st August 1944. His brother William Harrison RCAF (J/35168) survived the war.
Perhaps one of the youngest civilians to lose their lives as a result of an air accident in Yorkshire was five year old Kenneth Battensby. He is buried in Skipton on Swale churchyard. His grave is marked by the smallest of gravestones near the church door.
The scene of the crash.
The site today.
A memorial stone and plaque was dedicated at the crash site in 1984 and the surviving Canadian members of this crew were able to attend the service. The rear gunner of the aircraft was the only member on this aircraft not to attend the service as, I believe, he could not be traced. He was a "spare" gunner used as a stand-in when regular air gunners were not able to fly with their crews.
This accident was covered in great detail by air historian and author Bill Norman in a superb article for Flypast magazine in December 2008. Mr Norman also had also included an equally well written but shorter account in his "Failed to Return" book. Bill sadly died in 2017 though his books are still widely available.