Halifax at Nunnington.
Halifax LW235, whilst serving with 78 Sqdn.
On the 20th of October 1944 the crew on this Halifax were returning from a night bombing exercise (probably on the Pickering Range),
the weather over base at Wombleton
was bad and the pilot was having trouble in seeing the runway lights. He made three overshoots to land because of this, on the third, the
aircraft was
flying at too low a height to avoid a crash. Soon afterwards the aircraft crashed at Nunnington shortly after at 02.55hrs. The flight
lasted just short of two hours.
The aircraft smashed through trees on impact which broke the aircraft into peices, some of which caught fire. Five of the crew sustained
injuries and two others lost their lives as a result of the crash.
The crew were found not have been at their correct stations prior to the crash, had they been one can only speculate on the outcome.
Chief Technician, Sgt Charles Halliwell (525179) was awarded the British Empire Medal for gallantry when he was first on the scene
at the crash site; dispite the aircraft being on fire
he dragged all three of the remaining crew out of the wreckage, sadly only one would survive. In correspondance with Mr John Stanton whose
father served as ground crew at Wombleton when this incident occured, he informs me that a number of personnel were
billeted with families in Nunnington village. It could be that the speed the rescuers were on the scene was many
due to those billeted in the village being so close to the crash site.
Sgt Halliwell's family have asked me to point out that.. "After a posting to Southern Rhodesia and a long life in the RAF, Charles Halliwell retired in 1971. He moved to Slingsby
and then to York where he died on 14th October 1999. His ashes are scattered on his beloved Moors. He was a skilled aircraft
artist and some of his paintings can be seen at the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington near York." I would like to thank
various members of his family for their contact and for correcting any previous incorrect information detailed on this webpage.
Pilot - F/O John H MacLean RCAF, of S Hamilton, Canada - seriously injured. He had a total of 194 hours flying time prior to the crash,
only seven being on the Halifax, flying solo, with only three of these hours being at night.
F Eng - Sgt Herbert Vance RAFVR (1799345), aged 21, of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Buried Belfast City Cemetery.
? - F/O L E Sherwood RCAF, injured.
? - F/O E L Somerville RCAF, injured.
? - Sgt G N Pollock, injured.
? - Sgt Frank W Thomas RCAF, of St John, N.B. Canada - seriously injured.
Rear Gunner - Sgt John Wakefield RCAF (R/273518), aged 18, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Sgt Wakefield's gravestone at Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery.
Sgt Vance, this photograph appeared in a Belfast Newspaper. I wish to thank Mr Philip Batt for looking his death up and copying me
the relevent articles, without which Sgt Vance's personal details would not be known. His father lived at 22 Springfield Parade, Belfast.
His funeral was held on Friday 27th October, in attendance were members of his family including his father and four brothers.
There was a floral tribute from
RAF Station Wombleton.
This photograph taken at the time of the crash is believed to show the wreckage of Halifax LW235 at Nunnington.
The area of the crash in 2006 looking in the direction of Wombleton.
I would like to thank Ms Helen Porter for emailing me, a family friend of John Wakefield's own family who lived in close
to each other prior to the Wakefield's moving to Canada. John Wakefield grew up in Yorkshire.