Not the same Hudson which was to crash near Kildale but one of the same unit and carrying the code QX-Q, the Kildale aircraft
carried the code QX-O.
The winter of 1940-41 was a very severe winter. The Hudson took off from Leuchars at 01.17 hrs and flew East, it is thought
that it was starting out to patrol the North Sea. The crew were tasked with a flight 50 miles out into the North Sea from Leuchars,
then south following the coast 50 miles out to the Tees looking for small vessels trying to cut the minefields.
The aircraft crashed whilst on approach to land at Thornaby. It crashed into high ground on the snow covered Warren Moor,
above Kildale, on the night of 11th of January 1941. Visibility was bad at the time and there was low cloud. All four of
the crew survived the crash, although injured they managed to scramble clear of the plane. They were to die
of exposure before being found at 16.30hrs on the 12th of January. Their bodies were found under a wing of the Hudson huddled together and
covered in snow. People living at nearby Park Farm thought that they heard voices on the night but as the weather was so bad
they did not venture out to investigate.
I have been contacted by a gentleman, a Mr Bell, whos father was farm manager at Baysdale Abbey, he recalls his father
telling him of seeing something odd on the moor the next morning which was noticed whilst he was tending to sheep in the
valley bottom. Upon exploring it became clear that it was an aircraft on the moor but covered in snow. He recalls either his
father being one of the first to the crash site or visiting it soon after and that a good clean up job was done by the RAF.
The aircraft was built to contract 791587/38 by Lockheed-Vega at Burbank, California and shipped to the UK, arriving in August 1939.
After assembly and testing at M.U. it was issued to 224 Sqdn at Leuchars in October 1939. It had an uneventful life until it suffered the above incident, being written off with Cat E2/FA
damage on the 11th January 1941.
Pilot - Sgt Keith B Files RAF, aged 27, of Torquay, buried Worsley, Lancs.
Pilot/Nav - P/O Basil L (Peter) Fox RAF, aged 26, of Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia. Buried Brancaster Cemetery, Norfolk. His headstone gives the impression his nickname was "Poopdeck".
W Op / Air Gunner - Sgt William Robert Martin RAF, aged 25, of Netherfield, Nottinghamshire, buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire. Husband of Dorothy May Martin.
Air Gunner - P/O John McDonald Scott Wylie RAF, aged 21, of ?, buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire.
P/O Fox and his gravestone.
Sgt Martin and his gravestone.
P/O Wylie's gravestone.
Warren Moor is the area shown above the fields behind the mining chimney.
John Skinn and I located the site in December 2004. I had visited the area of the crash many times searching
for any sign of where the Hudson came down. Having contacted
other researchers, all had only found the odd peice of this aircraft on the moor over the years and all in a wide search area.
The main leads to help tracking down where at least part of the aircraft passed through during the crash came from
Howard Newbould and Jim Corbett, both had found tiny peices in a similar area. John and I searched the same area and found the remains of a
live .303 round and a tiny corroded fragment of alluminium. This does not mean we have located the exact crash site but at least
we know the area where it occured.
My thanks to Mr Bell of Swainby for his memories of this crash. His father worked at Baysdale Abbey during part of the
War and witnessed the aircraft being on the hillside.
The RAF Coastal Command Losses book 1939-41 actually lists this aircraft as taking off Leuchars, Scotland at 01.17 hrs
for a night patrol and it crashing at KildaRe, (Ireland) when it crashed into high ground in bad visibility. The Crash Card Form 1180
also quotes "Kildare" as crash location. An error.