Lancaster ME523 near Topcliffe.
During the afternoon of the 23rd April 1945 the crew of this 514 Squadron aircraft were undertaking a cross country training flight. The time the aircraft took off from their base at Waterbeach is not yet known nor are the exact details of what happened prior to the aircraft being forced landed. While over Yorkshire the pilot experienced partial loss of control while flying through severe turbulent weather. The aircraft's trim had been set incorrectly resulting in it making an uncontrollable turn to starboard. A belly landing was made in a field around two miles south west of Topcliffe airfield at 16.59hrs and the aircraft was badly damaged. A fire developed around the area of the port inner engine on impact which spread to the aircraft. Only the pilot's name is confirmed, three others were on board and the crew listed below were his regular crew who flew operationally with him around this date, I presume some were with him during this forced landing near Topcliffe. Unfortunately the North Riding Police transcripts I usually refer to for more detailed locations do not list this incident.
Pilot - F/O W M Wiseman RCAF (J/37983).
Navigator - F/O D C MacGorman RCAF (J/40830).
Bomb Aimer - F/O G V Dewitt RCAF (J/40517).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt C E Steele RAF.
Air Gunner - Sgt W King RAF.
Air Gunner - F/Sgt S Folino RCAF (R/268399).
Flight Engineer - Sgt G W Sumner RAF.