On 7th January 1952 this 264 Squadron aircraft was being flown on a night training exercise when the ventral tank would not feed the supply to the engines. The crew would have only been able to use the fuel in the main tanks and were probably heading back toward Linton on Ouse where they they were based when it developed engine trouble over Hambleton Hills. The fuel was probably running out. They then baled out and landed on farmland between Northallerton and Thirsk, both were uninjured. The incident received a mention in local newspapers the following day but at that time where the aircraft had come down was not known and a search was still being carried out.
After his death I received a vast amount of research carried out by historian Eric Barton. Eric had a handwritten note giving a very specific location for where this aircraft crashed as being near The Grange, a mile south of Kirby Sigston. I have not yet discovered his source but I have no reason to doubt it as it is from a list of other military flying accidents and other locations mentioned on it are correct.
Pilot - F/Lt Lachlan MacKinnon DSC RAF (501655).
Navigator / Radar Operator - F/O David Ernest George Everest RAF (579737).