Beaulieu AFB

The airplane departed RAF Topcliffe at 1005LT on a transit flight to RAF Beaulieu, carrying seven crew members, eight passengers and a load of various equipment including a number of bicycles. Two minutes after takeoff, while climbing at a height of 300 feet, the airplane turned onto its back and crashed near Melmerby, 8 km west of the airbase. All 15 occupants were killed. This accident was considered as one of the worst of the non operational during WWII.
Crew:
W/O Stephen Frederic Gannon, pilot,
Sgt Earl Lewis McGillivray, flight engineer,
Sgt George Robert Ian Taylor, navigator,
P/O Allen Catto Bradley, bomb aimer,
Sgt William Stanley Milne, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Melville James Stanley, air gunner,
Sgt Orlando Delmar Conrad Hamel, air gunner.
Passengers:
F/Sgt Norman Wilbur Ross,
F/O Benjamin Hugo Enns,
P/O Samuel Stewart Clark,
Sgt Ralph Elliott Milliken,
Sgt Joseph Jones,
F/Sgt William Michael Kostenuk,
Sgt Francis Hooton,
Cpl Joseph Victor Raoul Beaudry.

Following an operational sortie, the airplane was returning to base at RAF Beaulieu when, on final approach, it crashed for unknown reasons 1,500 metres short of runway. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew (224th Squadron):
F/Sgt Kenneth Crabtree, pilot,
Sgt Ronald Sydney Horsley, pilot,
Sgt Kenneth Edward Hunt, flight engineer,
F/Sgt Arthur William Colston, observer,
F/Sgt Eric Simonds Bayley, wireless operator,
Sgt Roland William James Harrison, wireless operator,
Sgt Henry Rupert Jennings, wireless operator.

The airplane departed RAF Beaulieu on a maritime patrol flight over the Bay of Biscay. While returning to base and flying northeast of Princetown, the bomber hit the cable of a barrage balloon and crashed in the Dartwood National Park. A crew member was seriously injured while six others were killed.
Crew:
Sgt Harry Olsen Dawe, pilot, †
Gavin Marton Sellar, pilot, †
F/O Victor Edward Crowther, observer, †
Sgt William Gilmore Fraser, flight engineer, †
P/O William Allen Cruickshanks, wireless op. and air gunner, †
William Ballantyne Martin, wireless operator and air gunner, †
Sgt Dennis Trevor Pass.
Special thanks to Peter Burke for crew details.