This webpage contains a number of photographs which, as result, for those on dial-up internet it may take afew moments to fully
view this page.
On the 12th February 1943 the crew of this Wellington, A for Apple, left Croft for what I currently believe to have been a mine
laying operation at 17.26hrs. Aircraft from various
squardrons were mine laying in the Frisians and off Heligoland on this night. Dave Earl's book "Hell on High Ground" however has the crew as being on
Ops to Le Havre in France and that the aircraft was hit by enemy
flak over the target there. The Form Am1180 makes no mention of what they were doing! The crew dropped their cargo (where ever that was)
and headed for home. The
North Yorkshire Moors were covered in a thick band of cloud and the crew became uncertain of their position, they had probably flown off course by a few degrees.
They descended to try and work out their location but struck
high ground east of Chop Gate on Black Intake Moor at 23.00hrs, all on the aircraft lost their lives. The aircraft was completely destroyed.
Alot of the aircraft appears to have been left on the site following the crash, this included both engines and fairly complete wing sections.
It is known that the now defunct Thornaby aircraft museum had one of the engines, the where abouts of the other is unknown. Various smaller peices of
aircraft I learn were used to patch holes in old dry stone wall in the years after the War, whether any of the aircraft is still in these walls is
yet to be discovered. This crash site was one of the most widely known about and visited sites in the 1960s and 70s, because of this the remaining
wreckage is somewhat depleated.
The aircraft was built to contract 124362/40 by Vickers Armstrongs Ltd at Chester and issued directly to 419 Sqdn at Topcliffe on 1st
August 1942. The aircraft suffered some battle damage (Cat A(c)/FB damage) on 6th September 1942 probably as a result of Ops to
Duisburg, though a small number of aircraft were involved in 'gardening' ops that night as well. The pilot was able to bring
the aircraft home where repairs commenced on 10th September 1942. 419 Sqdn moved to Croft on 30th September 1942 and the aircraft
remained at Topcliffe whilst these repairs were carried out by civilian contractors. It was returned to 419 Sqdn at Croft on 3rd October
1942. On 9th November 1942 419 Sqdn left Croft for Middleton St. George and the aircraft was transferred to 427 Sqdn which formed at
Croft on 7th November 1942. It suffered a minor accident at Croft (Cat A(c)/FA damage) on 5th December 1942 and was repaired on site
by civilian contractors again being returned to 427 Sqdn on 9th January 1943. In the incident detailed above it sustained Cat E2/FB Burnt
damage on 12th February 1943. It was struck off charge on 20th February 1943. W Chorley's losses book states the aircrafts squadron code as being "ZL-D"
Pilot - Sgt Oscar P E R J Adlam RAF, aged 26, of Bristol, buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire. Husband of Eileen Adlam.
Navigator - F/O Bryan Dunn RAFVR, aged 22, of Waterloo, Liverpool, buried Thornaby on Tees Cemetery, Yorkshire.
W Op / Air Gunner - Sgt William C I Jelley RAFVR, aged 31, of Middlesex, buried Northwood, Middlesex.
Air Bomber - Sgt Arnold C Clifford RAFVR, aged 20, of Southville, Bristol, cremated Bristol Arnos Vale.
Rear Gunner - Sgt William Ball RAFVR, aged 22, of Chester, buried Crossens, Lancs. Husband of Mona Olive Ball.
Sgt Adlam's and F/O Dunn's gravestones at Thornaby on Tees Cemetery.
The top photograph was found in my late grandfathers collection, it shows the site as it was just after the War, my
grandfather (with the cap) visited the site with Mr B Bates and Mr Raymond Hayes MBE in the late 1940's / early 1950's.
The colour photograph above shows me in the same location sixty years after the crash.
The black and white photograph above shows Mr B Bates and one of the radial engines at the site when my grandfather
visited the site after the War.
The colour photograph shows the same location sixty years after the crash.
I first visited the crash site in July 2002; following in the footsteps of my grandfather. Not much remains on the
surface at the site today. The engines and, for that matter, the majority of the wreckage is long gone.
This is the reason for my interest in aviation crash research, having found these photographs in a family photograph album I wanted to know about their history.
The site as it was in New Years Day 2003.
The site as it looked on New Years Eve 1972 (Photo Mr Graham Sharpe).
An exhaust collector ring found at the site in December 1972 (Photo Mr Graham Sharpe).
More parts of the aircraft found in December 1972, Mr Sharpe's caption explains what they are in more detail (Photo Mr Graham Sharpe).
Part of one of the aircrafts wings which was present at the site years ago, this may have been recovered by Mr Brian Rapier's York based group for inclusion in their museum in the 1970s. Its current whereabouts is unknown.
Thanks to Mr Graham Sharpe for the photographs taken from his collection.