Spitfire K9846 being pushed off the production line.

On the 6th of November 1939 a Whitley which was reported to have crashed in the North Yorkshire area; mist and patches of thick fog were down over the Catterick area and two 41 Sqdn Spitfires were asked to assist in search for this missing bomber. The pilot of this aircraft was first to take off, he had not done any night flying for some four months and whilst not confirmed it is possible that he could have volunteered to take part in this search to get some valuable experience. After gaining height to around 200 feet he initially banked right, the aircraft stalled, lost height and struck a telegraph pole in front of a house in Mowbray Road, Catterick. The RAF's crash card, the Form AM1180 mentions a possibility that there was a glycol leak on the aircraft which may have reduced the pilots forward vision. The wreckage caught fire and the front of the house he crashed into was also damaged which belonged to the Hughes family. The second aircraft to take off was piloted by George Bennions and was already in the air by the time the other aircraft had crashed, he returned to base and drove into the village to assist. He lived on Mowbray Road and as he turned down the street it appeared that his own house was on fire. Bennions own wife was attemping to rescue the pilot from his burning aircraft. Bennions lived next door to the house which suffered the most damage and where it had crashed. Sadly nothing could be done for the pilot, despite various rescue attempts all were in vain. He was buried in Catterick Cemetery some days later.

As a happy ending to this incident, the Overall family in Canada heard about the rescue attempts and the burial service, they offered to take the two Hughes children (those being the children who lived in the house where his aircraft crashed) to Canada for the duration of the War. This offer was accepted and Maureen (aged 12) and Tony (aged 14) Hughes sailed for Niagara Falls in early 1942. A Canadian newspaper reported that "the Canadian Government defrayed the costs of transportation and the children arrived safely in Toronto, where they were the guests of the Government until Mrs Overall arrived to take charge of them".

George Bennions would later rise through the ranks to become Squadron Leader DFC MiD, he died afew years ago.

Pilot - F/O Horace E H Overall RAF (39331), aged 26. Of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Buried at Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire. (C of E Sect, Row M, Grave 4.)

The pilots gravestone. There is no known photograph of Horace Overall. William Joseph Overall, Horace's father was born in Purleigh in Essex and emigrated to Canada in 1906 with his wife and (then) two children. The couple had another 7 known children, of whom Horace is believed to have been the youngest. Horace Overall gained his Wings in May 1937 at 10 FTS at Sywell after which he took up a Short Service Commission in the RAF. 41 Sqdn was probably his first operational squadron in the UK. He was with them for some period of time and suffered a number of minor bumps pre-war. On 6th May 1938 when returning from a fighter affiliation exercise in Fury K7280 he swung on landing in a strong wind, whilst trying to stop the swing he braked and the aircraft tipped up onto its nose. On 3rd November 1938 flying Fury K7280 again, the aircraft stalled and he force-landed at Leuchars. Six months later and back at Catterick, on 21st June 1939 he was flying the same Spitfire in which he lost his life, whilst landing at Dishforth as part of a training exerise the port wing struck a mower. No injuries were reported in any of these mishaps.

I would like to thank the pilots second cousin Ms. Kate Masheder for contacting me in early 2008 and for the information she was able to give regarding F/O Overall. She lost another cousin as a result of active service in the War. Ivan A W Gilmore RAFVR (1072498) was serving with 211 Sqdn. On 29th April 1944 he was posted as missing and is commemmerated on the Singapore Memorial. His body was never found.

Thanks also to Mr Steve Brew, 41 Squadron historian for his assistance in recording F/O Overall's career.

If the house numbers are the same from the Wartime period then the aircraft crashed into the garden of this house.