ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 22155
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| Date: | Tuesday 2 April 1940 |
| Time: | 22:40 |
| Type: |  Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk V |
| Owner/operator: | 77 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | N1368 |
| MSN: | KN-K |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | RAF Driffield, Yorkshire, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
| RAF Driffield |
On 2 April 1940 the Whitley V N1368 KN-K of 77 Sqn RAF overshot on landing at Driffield airfield at 22.40hrs following a low level bombing practice. It ran through the boundary fence after the pilot attempted to apply the brakes on wet grass, this did not stop the aircraft in time. The aircraft skidded through boundary fence, across a road and into a field. It was recovered by 60 MU on 3rd April but was deemed beyond repair and written off. The aircraft was being flown by a 102 Squadron crew at the time of this accident.
Plt Off Gray awarded DFC whilst with 102 Squadron. Gazetted 2 January 1940.
Citation
Pilot Officer Kenneth Neil GRAY (40342). Pilot Officer Gray and Pilot Officer Long were respectively Pilot and Navigator on a night reconnaissance flight over enemy territory during November, 1939.
During the operations a snowstorm was encountered and the aircraft became badly iced-up, in addition to being subjected to anti-aircraft fire. Nevertheless the reconnaissance flight was continued but it was not found possible to reach the objective as eventually weather conditions rendered the aircraft practically
impossible to control, the upper surface of one wing and half that of the other wing having been stripped of fabric and one flap jammed down. The wireless apparatus also failed. The journey home involved a flight of 342 miles over the sea during very heavy rainstorms and it was mainly due to the skill, courage and splendid team work of Pilot Officer GRAY and Pilot Officer LONG that the aircraft and crew were brought safely back.
Also awarded War Cross (Czechoslovakia) on 9 March 1940.
Crew
Pilot: 40342 Plt Off Kenneth Neil Gray (New Zealand) DFC CWC.
2nd Pilot: 518878 Sgt John Hamilton Hopper.
Observer: 580902 Sgt Frederick John Bass.
Wireless Operator: 632176 AC1 Alfred William Henry Hart.
Air Gunner: 632772 AC2 George Main.
Whitley N1368 was built to contract 75147/38 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd. at Baginton and delivered to 102 Squadron at Driffield in September 1939. On an unspecified date it transferred to 77 Squadron also based at Driffield. Following the mishap above Cat. W/FA damaged was recorded after it was inspected by 60 MU the following day. It was struck off charge and it is believed to have become a ground instructional airframe, but its new identity is not yet known.
Sources:
http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york40/n1368.html
http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york40/apr40.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Driffield
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=53.994722&lon=-0.486389&z=14&m=w
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 11 September 1940 | P5042 | 77 Sqn RAF | 0 | Venebrugge 3 km ESE of Hardenberg; Overijssel |  |
w/o |
| 27 February 1942 | Z9280 | 77 Sqn RAF | 4 | Van Sytzamawei road, Driezum, Friesland | |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-Aug-2008 09:55 | Anon. | Added |
| 09-May-2013 07:35 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 19-Jul-2017 09:58 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Time, Location, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 29-May-2022 12:25 | Anon. | Updated [Cn, Narrative] |
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