At 09.32hrs on 7th August 1944 this 433 Squadron was being re-fuelled on a dispersal point at Skipton on Swale airfield when the port wing caught fire. The fire developed into a fierce blaze and the aircraft then exploded sadly killing the airman on the wing who was refuelling the aircraft as well as another airman who was working below the wing on the port main wheel at the time. The re-fuelling tanker was also destroyed. The fire was seen from the control tower and was described as being around a mile away A Court of Inquiry was set up to try and discover the cause of the fire and while it was proven that fuel had overflowed from one of the tanks being filled it was not discovered what then produced a spark to ignite the petrol and fumes.
Air Frame Mechanic - LAC Joseph Harold Golding RCAF (R/82845), aged 25, of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (E/A/14).
Aero Engine Mechanic - LAC William Daniel Holloway Woodman RCAF (R/130601), aged 29, of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (E/A/13).
Joseph Golding was born on 19th May 1919 at Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and was a twin son of Reuben and Ada Spence (nee Smith) Golding. As a young man he left school in 1939 and began working as a clerk for the National Research Council. He enlisted for RCAF service in ottawa on 10th February 1941 and became an airframe mechanic (metal). He was then posted to the UK in late-1942 and served with 410 Squadron from 3rd January 1943 to 18th November 1943 when he was posted to 433 Squadron. His twin brother Robert also served in the RCAF.
William Woodman was born on 5th December 1914 at Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and was the son of Thomas and Ann Mary (nee Docherty) Woodman. Both his parents were British by birth and had emigrated to Canada. He was from a reasonably large family but sadly lost two brothers on the same date in 1930 and his father in 1933. As a young man he worked as a miner for the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada at Yellowknife, North West Territories. He was almost certainly a gold miner at what became the Con Mine at Yellowknife which became a massive operation. He enlisted for RCAF service in Edmonton on 11th September 1941 for ground crew duties and became an aero engine mechanic. He arrived in the UK in January 1944, sailing via New York but the date he arrived at Skipton on Swale is not known. His brother Richard Anthony Woodman served in RCAF while Desmond Noel served in the RCNVR and a sister also served in the RCAF.