Halifax near Skipwith, Yorkshire.
The Halifax took off from Elvington at 22.42 hrs on ops to Essen, soon after both the starboard engines failed. The pilot tried to land the aircraft in a field near Skipwith but struck trees just prior to crashing. The aircraft came down nearby in a field and burnt out. The crew were lucky, they survived. They were:
Pilot - Sgt D A R King, ok.
Sgt T W Hill, ok.
Sgt A R Downes, ok. killed in another crash on 24 Aug 1943.
Sgt A J Birch, ok.
F/O G A Renshaw, ok.
Sgt T W G Terry, ok.
Sgt C W G Graham, ok. Lost without trace on 20 Feb 1944.
Sgt D F Holway, ok.
Mr John Henley recalls that the aircraft was heard to be flying low and in trouble. The aircraft then took the tops off two poplar trees at the end of his farm drive before taking out a telegraph pole and crashing in an adjacent field and burning out. He recalls that the owner of a house at the corner of the field where the aircraft came down was forced to leave his house for the night due to bullets exploding.
The bomb load was removed the next day, taken further into the field, put into a large hole in the ground and blown up. The young Mr Henley and his family had to take cover some distance away but he saw shrapnel wizz over his head from a mile away.
Wreckage from the aircraft remained in the field for some time.