Confusion did exist as to which aircraft actually crashed on Skelton Moor near Green House Farm (now High Greenas), Hurst in late 1940. A site visit by myself and my wife in June 2007 yielded only two peices of wreckage although one contained a part number identifiable as that of a Blenheim. The explanation below should clear up any confusion between modern sources.

The aircraft in question was Blenheim L1467. Its service history confirms it was written off in a crash on 20th December 1940.

On the 20th of December 1940 the crew of this aircraft became lost whilst on a raid interception flight when the aircraft was flying in cloud (the crew were not on a night cross-country navigation exercise as previously thought). A new "Masquerade" coding system was being used to let pilots know the rough heights they were flying at, it was thought that the pilot became muddled in trying to work out the height he was actually flying at and the height in which is should have been flying above in order to avoid any high ground. Whilst flying at 1500ft, instead of 2500ft and after descending through the cloud the aircraft flew into high ground on Skelton Moor, not far from Green House Farm at 20.10hrs. Aircraft was completely wrecked and one crew member killed in the crash, the other was seriously injured and he sadly died later. It is believed to have flown into the ground at a shallow angle. Catterick's ORB gives the aircraft as being flown by "P/O Graham and Sgt Wilson". They state it "flew into hill descending in cloud on night interception". The YAM database however give the crash date as 26th October 1940, the latter is an error. The AM Form 1180 confirms the aircraft as being L1467. It is believed that this coding system and the confusion it could cause caused the crash, as a result the AM1180 asks for it to be changed.

L1467 was built to contract 527114/36 by The Bristol Aeroplane Co. at Filton and delivered directly to 64 Sqdn at Church Fenton on 20th December 1938. It was placed in storage with 20 MU at Aston Down on 3rd July 1940. It was later issued to 600 Sqdn at Catterick on 16th November 1940. In the incident above it sustained Cat. W/FA damage and was struck off charge on 31st December 1940. At the time of the accident its is believed to have been coded "BQ-W".

YAM claims the aircraft to have been Blenheim L9034, which served with 13 OTU at the time and was based at Bicester. L9034 was delivered to 9 MU Cosford on 13th November 1939 and was issued to 104 Sqdn at Bicster on 6th December 1939. 104 Sqdn merged with 108 Sqdn to form 13 OTU and the aircraft was taken on charge by the new unit. It was struck off charge on 20th December 1940, but no details of why this occured are known at present. It was not damaged in Yorkshire however.

Pilot - Sgt Thomas N Wilson RAFVR (754004), aged 20, of Breage Crest, Cornwall. Buried Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire.

AG - P/O George Henry Holmes DFM RAFVR (84682), aged ? Of ? Buried Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire. Died 26th December 1940.

My wife and I located the crash site in June 2007, in the area shown in the foreground of this photograph. Thanks to Graham Sharpe for his input regarding the aircrafts true identity and to Hendon's staff for supplying the AM1180 copy and their constant help.

The Bristol part number found on one of the peices.