ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 172739
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| Date: | Sunday 4 March 1945 |
| Time: | 01:45 LT |
| Type: |  Handley Page Halifax Mk III |
| Owner/operator: | 10 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | HX332 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Spellow Hill, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Melbourne, North Yorkshire |
| RAF Melbourne, North Yorkshire |
The crew of Halifax HX332 ("ZA-V" of 10 Sqn., RAF) took off from Melbourne near Pocklington, at 18:23 hours, bombed the target area at Kamen, Germany, with the main bomber force and made for home. On their arrival over Yorkshire they found that the enemy activity prevented them landing at Melbourne. This was because at around 01.15 hours when Halifax HX332 would have been nearing Melbourne and possibly already in contact with the airfield an enemy aircraft attacked Halifax NR235 as it was about to land at Elvington.
Halifax NR235 was badly damaged but the pilot managed to keep control of his aircraft long enough for his crew to bale before it crashed; sadly his body was found in the wreckage. This aircraft had crashed near Sutton on Derwent, not far from Melbourne airfield which resulted in Melbourne switching off it's runway lighting; all but one of the 10 Squadron aircraft in the air were diverted north to land at Leeming.
Some minutes later Halifax HX332 was flying at between 2,500 and 3,000 feet when it was attacked from below by one of the Junkers Ju88 enemy intruder aircraft. Halifax HX332 sustained serious damage and the pilot was unable to keep control, he ordered his crew to abandon the aircraft and three of the crew were able to do so before it began a roll. It did not complete this roll and crashed near Spellow Hill, between Boroughbridge and Staveley just after 01.00 hours.
Sadly five airmen lost their lives as a result of the crash...
Pilot - F/Lt John Gifford Laurence Laffoley RCAF (J/26398), aged 22, of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Flight Engineer - Sgt Cecil Harry Finch RAFVR (1877705), aged 37, of Croop Hill, Rugby. Buried Clifton Road Cemetery, Rugby, Warwickshire.
Bomb Aimer - P/O Leonard Alfred Thorndycraft RCAF (J/92417), aged 23, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/Sgt Peter Harold Field RAFVR (1390891), aged 22, of Badgers Mount, Kent. Buried Halstead Churchyard, Kent.
Air Gunner - F/Sgt Ernest William Bradshaw RAFVR (752204), aged 27, of Stoke Newington, London. Buried Chingford Mount Cemetery, Essex.
Second Pilot - P/O Kenneth Hartley Vallance Palmer RAFVR (184647). Uninjured.
Navigator - F/Sgt S Hamilton. Uninjured.
Air Gunner - "P/O" William Kay RAFVR (171099?). Back injuries. Note: this is definitely not Bill Kay 171099. Bill was the pilot on my Grandads crew in 100 Sqn and was shot down on 1st July 1944. At the time of this crash, he was a POW in Stalag IIIA at Luckenwalde. P/O William Kay 121580 (NCO:1377117, Gazette of 10th July 1942) of 100 Sqdn was taken PoW when LM621 was shot down by a night fighter, 30/6-1/7/44. I have email correspondence from a Gillian Ball on this airman.
Sources:
1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/50/a5969550.shtml
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gisela#British_losses
3. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/hx332.html]
4. http://pocklingtonhistory.com/history/20thcentury/pocklingtoninww2/crashes/index.php
5. http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/hphalifax/ser-hx332.htm
Media:
"Hx332a" by Photograph taken by RAF personnel - http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/hx332.html. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 06-Jan-2015 23:26 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 29-Jan-2021 12:32 | Mark Hanson | Updated [Narrative] |
| 10-Nov-2021 08:15 | Rob Davis | Updated [Narrative] |
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