Halifax near Rowntrees Factory, York.

The crew on board this Halifax were undertaking a training flight on the 11th of July 1944 when it crashed just north of York. It had taken off from Wombleton at 22.10hrs the previous night. At 03.25hrs it crashed very close to a road between the Bumper Castle pub and the Chocolate Factory and burnt out. All on board were sadly killed. The reasons for the crash occuring were never fully understood. Prior to the crash it was thought that the starboard outer engine had failed and had been feathered, though this alone would not have caused a crash of this nature. It was possible that another engine had failed and the pilot had then lost control. The aircraft may well have entered a flat spin just prior to the crash as its forward speed was decribed as "negligable". There is a strongly held belief that this Halifax had collided with an unknown Wellington prior to its actual crash. Such an occurance would not be impossible but there is no suggestion of this occuring in offical documents. At 03.55hrs East Moor's crash team and an engineer were called to the site where they removed a number of 20lb fragmention bombs back to East Moor for disposal. These were blown up in the crater made by another bomb left at East Moor the day before, the resulting crater was now 40 feet across and 15 feet deep. The crew involved in this incident appears to have encluded two navigators.

The aircraft was built to contract ACFT/1688/C4/C by Handley Page Ltd at Radlett and delivered to 405 Sqdn at Gransden Lodge in 8 Group on the 11th August 1943. This unit was in the process of converting to Lancasters so the aircraft was immediately transferred to 35 Sqdn at Graveley. In late 1943 it was transferred to 428 Sqdn at Middleton St.George in 6 Group. It's final unit was 1666 HCU to whom it transferred in June 1944. It was destroyed in the incident detailed above with Cat. E2/FA damage being recorded.

Pilot - F/Lt John D Best RCAF, aged 24, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.

Flight Eng - Sgt Bernard A Barker RAFVR, aged 22, of Norbury, Surrey, buried Fulford Cemetery, York.

Nav - F/O Victor Zoratti RCAF, aged 30, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire. Husband of Isabella Ruxton Zoratti.

Nav - F/O William A Corley RCAF, aged 29, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire. Husband of Lillian Diamond Corley.

Air Bomber - F/O Johnny P Kolomic RCAF, aged 20, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.

W Op/AG - WO1 Robert K Moore RCAF, aged 22, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire. Husband of Doris Margaret Moore.

Air Gunner - Sgt Neil J Kidney RCAF, aged 21, of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.

Rear Gunner - Sgt Raymond F Simmons RCAF, aged 22, of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire. Husband of Beatrice Arlene Kendall Postlethwaite Simmons.

The pilots headstone. His death was registered at Bulmer. He had a total of 408 hours flying time when he lost his life, only 23 hours of these being on the Halifax.