At 11.35hrs on 1st September 1943 the crew of this aircraft took off from their Yorkshire base to undertake a navigation exercise. The route to be taken was Base - Darlington - Taunton - Newbury - Base. Bad weather was forecast with a freezing level at 11,000ft. On arriving over Darlington at 10,000ft they set course for Essex and climbed to 13,000ft but the pilot reported the aircrafts pitot head was icing up, he descended back to 10,000ft and instructing the bomb aimer to look through the astro-hatch to check the wings had not got ice on them. By now the aircraft was between Darlington and Stockton. The bomb amier reported that icing was not to be seen on the wings but he noticed that fabric on the starboard wing was peeling off. Shortly later the aircraft became very hard to control, the wing dropping. The bomb aimer had to assist the pilot with the controls and after a short time control was regained. The aircraft soon became starboard wing being heavy again. The order to abandon the aircraft was given and all but the pilot and the rear gunner did so. The rear gunner did not carry out these orders and stayed with the aircraft. The aircraft then went into a steep spiral dive and crashed onto high ground at 12.55hrs killing those who were still on board. The aircraft had begun to break up before it hit the ground and wreckage was found over a 1200 yard trail. The cause was never fully established but there was a suggestion that the fabric could have been damaged and begun to peel off as a result of it being stored outside for ten months at the RAF MU.

Pilot - Sgt Victor H Wigmore RAFVR (1393205), aged ? Killed, buried Highgate Cemetery, London.

Rear Gunner - Sgt Harold Dean RAFVR, aged 20. Of Burton on Trent. Killed, buried Burton on Trent Cemetery.

Nav - Sgt Rees, slightly injured.

WOp/AG - Sgt Callaway, uninjured.

AB - Sgt Farrer, uninjured.

I have not located the crash site as it falls within a military training area. It is thought to have crashed in the area towards the centre of this photograph. This is as close as the general public can get to the crash site, although it could well be spread out as the aircraft broke up in the air.

A Meteor jet would crash in the same area in the years after the War.