Date:	Saturday 12 December 1936
Time:	13:15
Type:	Handley Page Heyford Mk III
Owner/operator:	102 (Ceylon) Sqn RAF
Registration:	K6900
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 4
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Wadsworth Moor, near Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Aldergrove, Northern Ireland
Destination airport:	RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire

Narrative:
Handley Page Heyford Mk.III K6900, 102 Squadron, RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire: Written off (destroyed) 12/12/36 when crashed in fog at Wadsworth Moor, near Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. Three of the four crew were killed.

On 19th November 1936 102 Squadron were posted on detachment to Aldergrove, Northern Ireland and seven aircraft flew in formation west from Finningley, Yorkshire. On 26th November 1936 they were part of a BBC broadcast during a night flying demonstration with 502 Squadron. A return to Finningley was to have taken place on 10th December 1936 but due to bad weather, the had to remain there for two further days until receiving better weather reports for the flight back to Yorkshire.

On 12th December 1936 this 102 Squadron aircraft took off from Aldergrove at 10.45hrs to return to their base at Finningley, Yorkshire. They had left in formation with six other aircraft from 102 Squadron, K4864, K4868, K5811, K4874, K6898 plus one other and all would run into bad weather with all but one making forced landings or crashing before locating Finningley. Heyford K5188 would force land between York and Malton. Another crashed near Oldham, another near Gainsborough and two at Disley, Manchester. Heyford K6900 struck a wall before crashing onto moorland on an old rifle range on Wadsworth Moor, near Hebden Bridge and unfortunately two aircrew were killed in the crash while a third died while being taken to hospital. One member of the crew survived despite sustaining serious burn injuries. Fog was blamed for all the crashes and ice forming on the aircraft was reported which would have affected control. All aircraft were carrying wireless sets but none worked when ice formed on the aerials. This was a bad day for the RAF. Questions were asked of the RAF in the House of Commons as to the failings of this day. After this the RAF developed effective de-icing technology for aircraft.

This Heyford was one of seven aircraft that had arrived with 102 Squadron on 28th July 1936.

Crew:
Pilot - Sgt Victor Charles Otter RAF (563606). Received burns but survived.
Navigator - Sgt Douglas George Church RAF (580019), aged 21, of London. Buried Finningley Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Fitter - LAC Percival George Clements RAF (563472) aged 23, of Bournemouth. Buried Finningley Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Wireless Operator - AC2 Claud Vincent Bodenham RAF aged 18, of Ludlow. Buried Ludlow Cemetery.

Sgt Victor Otter sustained severe burns injuries to his face, and was placed under the care of the distinguished surgeon Sir Archibald MacIndoe (later of "Guinea Pig Club" fame). Victor Otter was born in February 1914 and joined the RAF in 1929 as an aircraft apprentice. In the mid 1930s he began pilot training and after gaining his wings he was posted to 102 Squadron. As a result of the crash of Heyford K6900 in December 1936 he sustained serious burns and spent two years undergoing treatment, parting by Archibald McIndoe. Once fit he was posted back to 102 Squadron but deemed unfit to resume flying. In November 1940 he was granted a commission in the Admin and Special Duties Branch of the RAF before transferring to the Technical Branch in 1941. He served in the RAF until 1969 retiring as Air Vice-Marshal having been awarded the OBE in June 1946 and the CBE in June 1967. He died in 1996.

The crash on Wadsworth Moor near Hebden Bridge was the worst incident of a debacle in which 7 Heyford bombers left RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland together bound for RAF Finningley in Yorkshire on 12th December 1936, but only one arrived safely.

Of the 7 Heyfords, 2 landed safely elsewhere, 2 made crash landings, the crew bailed out of another leaving their abandoned bomber to fall to the ground, and the other was this one, K6900. These were the only fatalities. Heavy icing on the wings caused problems for the bombers as they crossed the Irish Sea and got lost in the freezing fog. The incident was a pre-war alarm call for the RAF, and it led to the development of de-icing technology.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) 102 Squadron ORB for the period 1 October 1933 to 3 September 1937: File AIR 27/807/1 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8385195
3. http://aircrashsites.co.uk/air-crash-sites-5/handley-page-heyford-k6900/
4. https://militaryaircraftcrashsites.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/handley-page-heyford-k6900.html
5. https://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york36/k6900.html
6. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1937.htm
7. http://www.stevelewis.me.uk/page17.php
8. http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Otter_VC.htm
9. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/115877103/douglas-george-church
10. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/115877128/percival_g-clements
11. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/280006/
12. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/280004/

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
03-Mar-2018 17:20	Dr. John Smith	Added
03-Mar-2018 17:21	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative, ]
14-Oct-2018 17:25	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator, ]
19-May-2024 09:55	Nepa	Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Narrative, Operator, ]
30-Jul-2025 06:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, Category, ]