Handley Page Halifax Mk.II DT581 MH-Y of 51 Squadron RAF crashed on Hoar Side Moor, Todmerdon, on the 21st January 1943.
|
Crew / Passengers |
Rank - If Applicable |
Position e.g. Pilot |
Status |
|
Richard Donovan Getliffe |
Pilot Officer |
Pilot |
Injured |
|
Alexander Campbell |
Sergeant |
Flight Engineer |
Injured |
|
Edward
Burt Chatfield
|
Pilot Officer |
Navigator |
Injured |
|
Allan Campbell |
Sergeant |
Air Bomber |
Killed |
|
George
Hugh Whyte |
Sergeant |
Wireless Operator / Air gunner |
Killed |
|
John James Merritt |
Sergeant |
Air Gunner |
Injured |
|
E R Smart |
Sergeant |
Air Gunner |
Injured |
The crew had taken off from their base at Snaith near Selby to drop two mines (an A.108 and B.200 type) into the sea in the 'Nectarines' area of the North Sea, this was around the Frisian Islands. The crew had been briefed to fly from base to the Mablethorpe on the Lincolnshire coast before setting course direct for the Frisian Is. and then returning via the same route. On returning they over-shot their base and continued westwards. The aircraft eventually struck a drystone wall on the edge of Hoar Side Moor and slid to a halt where it burnt out.
Of the surviving crew members Alexander Campbell and John Merritt were both killed, Campbell when Halifax Mk.II W7861 was lost without trace on a raid against Hamburg on the night of the 3rd / 4th March 1943 and Merritt when Halifax Mk.II DT666 crashed at Carlton near to Snaith while returning from a raid against Essen on the 3rd / 4th April 1943. Both were still flying with No.51 Squadron.
Very little is left now where the aircraft burnt out, there are just these two sheets of armour plate and some very corroded fragments.
The stone wall that was hit was, in 2003, still missing a significant section that had been demolished 60 years earlier.