On the 22nd of March 1943 the crew of this aircraft were returning to base at Church Fenton after a flight and contacted base to state their intension of landing. The aircraft was told to hold off landing and await their turn in the circuit, they were wrongly directed into a holding pattern over high ground and they were then give the wrong height at which to fly. The aircraft flew into high ground to the east of Sildsen at speed and at night and in low cloud conditions. The aircraft appears to have clipped the very top of the escarpment at Wingate Nick and crashed onto the moor behind spreading wreckage over a wide area.

There is a plan for a memorial to be erected near the crash site, this will replace a tiny plaque which was at the site some years ago with an incorrect date for the crash.

Pilot - Sgt John Hudson Staples RAFVR (656008), aged 28, of Llaniestyn, Anglesey, Wales. Buried Llaniestyn (St Iestyn) Churchyard, Anglesey, Wales.

Nav/WOp - Sgt Ralph Ernest Andrews RAFVR (1576326), aged 20, of Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Buried Stoke-on-Trent (Hartshill) Cemetery (Grave 7142).

Myself and Will Lund located the crash site in December 2006, tiny fragments of the aircraft are all that remains. A small area where part of the aircraft burnt out is still visable.

My thanks to Peter Whitaker, Nick Roberts and Dave Earl for their input regarding this aircraft and its crash location.