Crash of an Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley V in Alsop en le Dale: 1 killed

Only half an hour in the flight, which was routed as Base – Lincoln – Peterborough – Base, the port engine failed, it was successfully re-started and it ran at full power, however after only 3 to 4 minutes this engine failed again. The Instructor took over the controls and ordered the crew to take up crash positions, however Sgt Belec was unable to leave the nose as the aircraft was fitted with dual controls which blocked his escape route. He then attempted a forced landing in one of the fields near Alsop, but found that none of the fields was large enough to land in. The aircraft touched down and ran the width of one field before it struck the boundary wall on the eastern side of the Buxton to Ashbourne railway (now the Tissington Trail) traveled across the line tearing up the track and came to rest part way down an adjoining field. Shortly before the crash a train travelling towards Ashbourne had passed by the site, had either the train been late or accident occurred a few minutes earlier the outcome could have been very different.
Crew:
F/O Ernest James Bull, pilot,
Sgt Norman James Prime, pilot,
Sgt Timothy Kennedy, navigator,
Sgt Gordon Belec, bomb aimer, †
Sgt Spencer Otty, wireless operator,
Sgt Edwin Fuller Harris, air gunner.
Source: https://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk