Lancaster ME426 at Leeming airfield.

On the night of 16th / 17th April 1945 this 427 Squadron aircraft was to undertake an operational flight to bomb a railway target at Schwandorf. The crew took off from Leeming at 22.45hrs and as they began to climb and gain height over the general area of their base prior to all the aircraft heading out as a bomber force, the starboard outer engine began to overheat because of a glycol leak. The aircraft managed to climb to 3000ft but the engine had to be feathered. The crew abandoned the operational sortie. The squadron records state that they then jettisoned the bomb load in a "safe" condition at 23.45hrs from 2,000ft which must have been just out to sea. They then made for Leeming but approached the landing too fast and high, resulting in the aircraft overshooting on landing at 00.42hrs. The incident is recorded in Leeming's station orb as landing with the full all up weight of 50,000 lbs (which would include the bomb load). The aircraft came in too high and ran off the end of the runway, through the boundary fence. It halted fifty yards into a ploughed field past the Gatenby Lane having tipped onto it's nose and settling back on it's wheels. The damaged aircraft was later towed back to a hanger.

Pilot - F/Lt W E Towne RCAF (J/20385).

Navigator - F/O T K Creighton RCAF (C/11152).

Bomb Aimer - F/O W N Duff RCAF (J/40363).

Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/Sgt E J O'Connor RCAF (R/204173).

Air Gunner - F/Sgt O W Owen RCAF (R/257217).

Air Gunner - F/Sgt P A Bradbury RCAF (R/136461).

Flight Engineer - Sgt E M Radford RCAF (R/209029).

Second Pilot - F/O Wilbert Arnold Gunning RCAF (J/19115).