Spitfire P8044 which crashed in Bransdale was named "Canadian First Division" when it served with 41 Sqdn. (Thanks to Mr J Rutland
for this photograph ).
On the 28th of October 1941 the pilot of this aircraft was returning to base at Catterick with at least one
other aircraft; that of his leader. They were returning to base following a convoy patrol. This pilot was believed
to have lost control when flying in cloud. Transfer from formation flying to flying on instruments resulted in him loosing control.
The aircraft dived into the ground from a height at 17.30hrs.
Another non-offical source states that the pilots oxygen pipes may have frozen and he passed out through lack of ozygen.
The aircraft came down in Bransdale, in a field just south of Bransdale Mill. The pilot is believed to have been killed instantly.
Whilst this location is not the one quoted in Yorkshire Air Museum records (who quote "200 yards NW of Ankness") I believe the grid
reference they quote to be have been incorrectly written - two digits being inverted in the original Cassini map ref for Bransdale Lodge.
After speaking to two former Bransdale residents in 2003 it became clear that they recalled this crash occuring. Mr Ken Luck
told me that he remembered an aircraft crashed near the Mill, it was on a foggy Saturday in 1941, in a field between Colt House
and the river and somewhere near a small footbridge. It was a very foggy day but the aircraft was heard circling for a time before a
loud bang was heard as it struck the ground. A farmer, Mr Strick Teasdale, from nearby Colt House tried to get the pilot out
of the aircraft but was beaten back by the flames. Soldiers who were camped at Bransdale Lodge were soon on the scene to guard
the wreck but nothing could be done for the pilot. Mrs F Leng of Helmsley also had similar memories recounted to her
by her now late husband of a crash in the same locality.
The aircraft was built to contract B981687/39/CB/23(C) by Vickers Armstrongs Ltd at Castle Bromwich and delivered to the RAF in January
1941. After acceptance it was issued to 41 Sqdn at Catterick in February 1941, it later transferred to 145 Sqdn when the unit
moved into Catterick on 28th July 1941 when 41 Sqdn left for Merston. It sustained Cat E2/FA damage in the incident detailed above.
Pilot - P/O Henry L M Young RCAF, aged 23, of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Buried Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire. Husband of Gwendolyn Edna Young.
He had trained with 4 FTS, he was given his Wings in January 1941. He had a total of 367 flying hours at the time of his death, with 124 hours being on that type of Spitfire, all of which were in the last six months of his life.
I am told nothing remains in the field, probably one of the ones to the right of the photograph and in the foreground.
Thanks to Mr K Luck and Mrs F Leng for recounting their memories to me with regard this incicident.