ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 155766
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| Date: | Friday 8 June 1945 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Handley Page Halifax Mk VII |
| Owner/operator: | 48 MU RAF |
| Registration: | JP203 |
| MSN: | VR-M |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Burdyke Avenue, Clifton, York, North Yorkshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Hooton Park, Cheshire |
| Clifton Airfield, York, North Yorkshire |
After the end of the War, many of the Halifaxes used by Bomber Command were flown to Clifton airfield to be scrapped. This aircraft (which was on charge with 48 MU, RAF) was being ferried from Hooton Park, Cheshire to Clifton, North Yorkshire on 8th June 1945 and was forced to shut down and feather the port outer engine before it arrived over York.
He approached from the Haxby direction and was on his final approach to land with only three good engines. Late into his approach air traffic control signaled to him not to land, by firing a red Verey cartridge into the air, as there was an obstruction blocking the runway. The pilot attempted to overshoot but at such a low height of fifty feet and with only three engines gaining much height quickly was virtually impossible.
A wingtip clipped the top of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Burdyke Avenue, Clifton and the aircraft crashed into the car park of the nearby Imperial Hotel killing both airmen instantly on board. Wreckage was scattered in the housing estate for some distance.
Fifty one years after this crash members of the Yorkshire Air Museum were responsible for erecting a memorial at the foot of the church tower in Clifton. Members of the airmens families were in attendance, including A/C Colin Cruickshanks AFC (the pilot's son), the pilot's mother and two sisters of the flight engineer.
Pilot - Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) Ian James Alexander Cruickshanks (RAFVR 80819), aged 26, Buried Leamington Milverton Cemetery, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
Flight Engineer - Flight Sergeant Victor Henry Clare DFM RAFVR (1605068), aged 20, of Acton, Middlesex. Buried Fulford Cemetery, York.
Note that, due to an administrative error, the serial of this aircraft was wrongly recorded at the time as "NP203", The correct serial is JP203. As JP203, it had seen operational service with No. 428 (B) Squadron, RCAF, coded 'NA-U'. Also with No. 419 Squadron, RCAF, coded 'VR-M'. Both Squadrons were based at RAF Middleton St. George, near Darlington, County Durham.
Sources:
1. http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/planes/ryedale/jp203.html
2. http://yorkstories.co.uk/halifax-bomber-crash-site-clifton-8-june-1945/
3. http://www.rwrwalker.ca/RAF_owned_JP100.html
4. http://www.planetrace.co.uk/1940-1949_28.html
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2714536/cruickshanks,-ian-james-alexander/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2407929/clare,-victor-henry/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-May-2013 09:43 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 28-Oct-2018 07:44 | ALAN MACKAY | Updated [Registration] |
| 13-Nov-2019 19:11 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Registration, Cn, Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 13-Nov-2019 19:14 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 15-Nov-2019 18:40 | Anon. | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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