On evening of the 5th March 1945 the crew of this 426 Squadron aircraft took off from Linton on Ouse airfield at 16,48hrs to undertake an operational flight to bomb Chemnitz. Prior to taking off the crews of the fourteen 426 Squadron aircraft being used on this night were given the orders were to climb to between 8-10,000 feet after taking off, to circle the general area on Linton on Ouse allowing all the aircraft to get into the air and to climb to the height before all fourteen set out together, all the squadron aircraft were to be over the area of Linton on Ouse at the "set course" time when the final one would have reached the altitude. Ten minutes after taking off this aircraft was still climbing before the main bomber force headed off, while over the general area north-west of Nun Monkton it collided with 425 Squadron Halifax MZ845. All on board this aircraft died in the resulting crash near Carlton Farm when part of the bomb load exploded on impact. Wreckage was found to be spread over nine fields and damaged a number of the farm buildings. An investigation found that a large piece of port mainplane of this aircraft's aileron was found on a road a mile north west of the main crash site, it had broken off after being bent upwards and this part had propeller marks on it. The port outer propeller of Halifax MZ845 was found to be damaged with marks on it that matched the damage on the aileron. It was therefore thought that the port wing / outer engine of Halifax MZ845 had struck Halifax PN228 from below on its port side. It could not be proven whether PN228 had climbed into MZ845 or whether that extreme unforecast icing conditions (that had caused numerous other accidents around the same time as this one) had caused control of PN228 to have been lost and this aircraft had lost height into MZ845. Halifax MZ845 crashed around 3/4 mile away but one member of that crew was able to bale out before it crashed.

Pilot - S/Ldr Eric Thomas Garrett RCAF (J/10741), aged 24, of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (H/P/12).

Flight Engineer - P/O Eric Stanley Jerome RAFVR (195710), aged 24, wife of Acton. Buried Acton Cemetery, Middlesex.

Navigator - F/O John Leslie Atkinson RCAF (J/35829), aged 32, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (H/P/11).

Bomb Aimer - F/O Kenneth George Parker RCAF (J/36081), aged 22, of Arnprior, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (H/P/10).

Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - P/O William Gordon Miller RCAF (J/94338), aged 20, of White Rock, British Columbia, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (H/P/1).

Air Gunner - P/O John Blair Linstead RCAF (J/94527), aged 19, of High River, Alberta, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (H/P/9).

Air Gunner - P/O Harold Dick McLeod RCAF (J/94365), aged 20, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (H/P/8).

This photograph is believed to show the crew of Halifax PN228. Using their photos shown below I suggest the crew list is (left to right) Atkinson, Miller, Linstead, Garrett, McLeod, Parker, Jerome. I thank Kenneth Parker's nephew Mr Doug Parker for kindly supplying this photograph.

The original mid upper gunner in this crew was seriously injured in the head by a flak burst on 9th October 1944 on Ops to Bochum, on their return to base he was immediately taken to York Military Hospital and then transferred to a specialist head injuries unit at Sheffield but sadly died mid-way between the two. P/O Robert Burns Scott RCAF (J/93090) was buried at Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery.

Eric Garrett was born on 29th November 1920 at Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and was the son of Charles Edward Cecil and Gladys (nee Derham) Garrett. His father was born in Jamaica but had married in Liverpool, England in 1917 before the couple emigrated to Canada. As a young man Eric attended University in Michigan, USA studying aero engineering. He enlisted into the RCAF on 22bd July 1941 at Ottawa and after training was awarded his pilots' flying badge and also a commission on 27th March 1942. He may have then served as a staff pilot at No.1 SFTS in Canada until late-1943. On arrival in the UK in early 1944 he trained at 14 (P)AFU, 22 OTU and 1664 HCU. He was posted to 426 Squadron on 17th September 1944.

John Atkinson was born on 18th June 1912 at Calgary, Alberta, Canada and was the son of John Thomas and Beatrice May (nee Cann) Atkinson. As a young man he studied at the University of British Columbia and gained a degree prior to working as an accountant. He married Mary Hindsley in Calgary in March 1940 and the couple had a baby son. After enlisting for RCAF service in Edmonton on 22nd April 1942 he trained as an air observer, receiving his flying badge and also a commission on 17th September 1943. He arrived in the UK in early 1944 and after training at 2 (O)AFU, 22 OTU and 1664 HCU was posted to 426 Squadron on 17th September 1944.

Kenneth Parker was born on 7th September 1922 at Arnprior, Ontario, Canada and was the son of George and Janet (nee Scott) Parker. Prior to enlisting into the RCAF he worked as a bank clerk for the Bank of Nova Scotia at Arnprior. He enlisted on 30th July 1942 in Ottawa and after basic training was awarded his air bombers' flying badge and also a commission on 1st October 1943. He trained at 7 (O)AFU, 22 OTU, 1659 HCU and 1664 HCU before posting to 426 Squadron on 17th September 1944.

William Miller was born on 15th May 1924 at Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, Canada and was the son of Harold Gordon and Mary Ann (nee McLellan) Miller. He was fresh out of school when he enlisted for RCAF service in Saskatoon on 20th August 1942 and after basic training was awarded his Air Gunners' flying badge on 4th October 1943. He appears to have already done the wireless operator part to his training before October 1943 as he was posted to the UK on 22nd October 1943. On arrival in the UK he trained at 5 AOS, 82 OTU and 1664 HCU before posting to 426 Squadron on 17th September 1944. He appears to have received a backdated commission after his death, back dated to 4th March 1945.

John Linstead was born at High River, Alberta, Canada and was the son of Thomas John and Helen (nee Blair) Linstead. He may have lied about his age when he enlisted because of his age being too young, he gave his date of birth as being 30th May 1925 but on a form filled in by his parents after his death they gave it as being 30th May 1926. As a young man he undertook a number of jobs including being a civilian messenger and kitchen assistant for the RCAF at No.5 EFTS based at High River. He enlisted for RCAF service in Calgary on 13th April 1943 and after training in Canada he was awarded his air gunners' flying badge on 29th October 1943. On arrival in the UK in late 1943 he trained at 22 OTU and 1664 HCU before posting to 429 Squadron on 31st August 1944. He was then posted to 426 Squadron on 10th November 1944. He appears to have received a backdated commission after his death, back dated to 4th March 1945. He and Harold McLeod appear to have been posted to 426 Squadron as spare air gunners, with both joining the Garrett crew as replacements for the dead mid-upper gunner and the surviving rear gunner of the original crew.

Harold McLeod was born on 19th January 1925 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and was the son of John Donald Gordon and Anne (nee Dey) McLeod. His father served in the Canadian Army. He was fresh out of school when he enlisted for RCAF service in Saskatoon on 28th January 1943. After basic training he was awarded his air gunners' flying badge on 29th October 1943. He arrived in the UK in late 1943 and trained at 22 OTU and 1664 HCU and was also posted to 429 Squadron on 31st August 1944 before posting to 426 Squadron on 10th November 1944. He received a commission on 3rd January 1945.