On the 12th of April 1944 this Halifax, S for Sugar, was carrying out an air to air firing exercise over the sea. On its return inland the aircraft was flying very low when one of its engines failed (one source stated that an engine caught fire). As a result control was lost and it crashed into woodland near Deepdale Farm, Deepdale at 16.10 hrs. In July 2004 I received at letter from a Mrs M Hick of Scarborough, following a request in a local magazine for witnesses to crashes in the Hackness area. This lady's mother witnessed the crash. The aircraft came over the hill and crashed into the wood with the tail section falling off first (I would guess this saved the rear gunner from fatal injuries). Mrs Hick's mother had witnessed the crash from a nearby field, on her way back from fetching water from their well. The surviving airman saw her and asked if she was alright. A guard was put on the site until it was cleared.
The aircraft was built to contract ACFT/1808/C4/C by E.E.C. Ltd at Salmesbury and delivered directly to 431 'Iroquois' Squadron at Croft on 15th February 1944 but the unit were operating Halifax B.V's at this period so the aircraft was immediately transferred to 432 Squadron at East Moor who were converting from Lancaster B.II's to Halifax B.III's in February 1944. It was written off in the incident detailed above with Cat E2/FA Burnt damage on 12th April 1944. Seven lost their lives in this crash and one was badly injured.
Pilot - F/Sgt Arthur K Clarke RCAF, aged 22, of Hawkstone, Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery.
Navigator - P/O Thomas H Woodard RCAF, aged 26, of Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery.
Bomb Aimer - Sgt Francis E Cranch RCAF, aged 31, of Crouch End, London. Buried Tottenham and Wood Green Cemetery, London. He was married to Gladys.
W Op - Sgt Felix C Hindmarsh RCAF, aged 24, of Edam, Saskatchewan, Canada. Buried Edinburgh (Mount Vernon) Roman Catholic Cemetery.
Air Gunner - P/O David G Bell RCAF, aged 25, of Lower Capilano, British Columbia. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery.
F Eng - Sgt Harvey Halliwell RAFVR, aged 20, of Middleton Lancs. Buried Middleton (St Leonard), Lancs.
Fitter/Passenger - LAC David V MacKenzie RCAF, aged 24, of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery.
Rear Gunner - Sgt D McNeil survived.
On the 15th of April a Roman Catholic Mass was held at East Moor for Sgt's Woodard and Hindmarsh, on the 17th a funeral service for F/Sgt Clarke and LAC McKenzie was held at Sutton on the Forest church.
The pilot, Arthur Clarke and his headstone at Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery.
John Skinn and myself searched for the site in July 2004, we found only one peice, part of the aircrafts DF loop casing.
In May 2006 Howard Newbould and myself visited the site again and were able to locate further peices of the aircraft.
Mr Andy Hindmarsh was responsible for a plaque being placed on the Edam War Memorial in Canada in 1990 to commemmerate his Uncle who was killed in this crash.
F/Sgt Clarke's brother Edward Clarke also served in the RCAF and was on the same Squadron at the same time as his brother. He sadly lost his life on 29/7/1944 whilst on his last ops of his tour of duty. He is commemerated on the Runnymede Memorial.
The aircraft had previously been on nine operational flights prior to its crash. The crews last mission had been just two days before their death when they successfuly attacked rail yards at Ghent.
I would like to express my thanks to Mrs M Hick and her sister for taking the time to write to me.
