Researching historic aviation accidents and locating crash sites in the Peak District & throughout the British Isles
Wellington Mk.III BK347 of No.30 OTU crashed on Whernside near Ingleton in North Yorkshire on the 21st April 1944 whilst on a cross country flight from Hixon
Ernest Malcolm Barrett
Flying Officer
Pilot
Killed
Edward Alderson
Flight Lieutenant
Co-pilot
Killed
Philip Edwin Lomas
Sergeant
Navigator
Killed
Robert Gerald Campbell Brodie
Flying Officer RCAF
Bomb aimer
Killed
Ronald Charles Holmwood
Sergeant
Wireless Operator
Killed
Norman Skirrow
Sergeant
Wireless Operator / Air gunner
Killed
Joseph Marks
Sergeant
Wireless Operator / Air gunner
Injured
The aircraft appears in a photograph that is published in numerous books carrying the unit code BT-Z, however at the time of the crash the aircraft was carrying the code letter Q.
The remaining wreckage from the aircraft is at one end of a large pit. After the crash the remains of the aircraft were buried in this pit. Over the years various groups have dug up bits of the aircraft so little remains today, although I think that there is still a fair amount of buried wreckage.By 2015 the amount of visible wreckage in the sinkhole had diminished, however this is possibly due to it gradually filling with peat.This photograph shows the hole that the remains of the aircraft were buried in by the RAF and in the background the scar where the aircraft actually crashed. About half way up to the top of the ridge is a large scar, that is where the aircraft crashed, there are still a few small fragments in the scar but not many.This is the view from where the aircraft impacted towards Ribblehead.
Two of the crew were buried at Chester (Blacon) Cemetery.