Halifax MZ600 at Topcliffe airfield.
In the early hours of 3rd May 1945 the trainee pilot of this 1659 Heavy Conversion Unit aircraft was taxying prior to taking off to carry out a basic circuits and landings training flight, at 00.54hrs another aircraft was overshooting a landing at Topcliffe and in the dark the pilot of MZ600 had to make a hurried turn to avoid colliding with this other overshooting aircraft. In the dark MZ600 had ran over an obstruction which at the speed it was travelling it resulted in both main undercarriage legs collapsing.
Pilot (instructor) - F/Lt Lorne Edward Kropf RCAF (J/7931), of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Injured.
Pilot (pupil) - F/O S R Daviss RCAF (J/85686).
Lorne Edward Kropf was born in 1918 in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada enlisted into the RCAF in February 1941 and served with 405 Squadron as an wireless operator / air gunner. On his fourth operational flight on 16th September 1942 he was flying in Halifax W7770 on Ops to bomb Essen, he and one member of his crew managed to bale out of the damaged aircraft but the rest of the crew were killed. The other survivor was made a PoW but Lorne was able to evade capture in Belgium and passing through France and Spain and made it back to the UK via Gibraltar on 1st November 1942. He was awarded the DFC, Gazetted on 5th February 1943. He returned to Canada in 1943 but opted to re-muster as a pilot and re-trained. He returned to the UK and served with 432 Squadron between October 1944 and February 1945 and while back in the UK collected his DFC from Buckingham Palace. After the war he returned home and died in July 1996.