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| Date: | Saturday 22 October 1938 |
| Time: | night |
| Type: |  Armstrong Whitworth Whitley B Mk II |
| Owner/operator: | 51 Squadron RAF |
| Registration: | K7261 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 4 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Aldwark, near Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire |
| RAF Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire |
Armstrong Whitworth Whitley II K7261, 51 Squadron, RAF Linton-on-Ouse: Written off (damaged beyond repair) on 22nd October 1938. This 51 Squadron Whitley was being flown on a night circuit flying exercise around the crew's home base of Linton on Ouse. A layer of low laying fog formed during the exercise and this made the pilot disorientated, the aircraft crashed into the edge of Aldwark Woods, around a mile west of Linton on Ouse airfield and the wreckage caught fire. Sadly, two members of the crew were killed as a result. Sadly, a third airman died while undergoing an operation some sixteen months later. This incident appears to have been the first serious accident to befall a Linton on Ouse based aircraft.
Two of the four crew were killed:
Pilot - P/O Franklin Gordon Hanlan (Canadian), aged 25. Buried Newton on Ouse Churchyard, Yorkshire.
AC1 Christopher Peter Timothy Bowring RAF, aged 20. Buried Newton on Ouse Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Pilot - F/Sgt Frank Clifford Noyes RAF. Seriously injured. Leg amputated. Died 16 months later on 20 April 1939 as noted
AC1 Andrew Moffat Fleming RAFVR (1821766). Slightly injured.
According to the official Air Ministry announcement in "Flight" magazine (November 10, 1938, page 430 - see link #3):
"FLYING ACCIDENTS
P/O Franklin Gordon Hanlan (pilot) and A/C.1 Christopher Peter Timothy Bowring lost their lives, Fit. Sgt. Frank Clifford Noyes was dangerously injured, and A/C.1 Andrew Moffat Fleming was slightly injured- in an accident which occurred at Aldwark, Yorkshire, on October 22, to an aircraft of No. 51 (Bomber) Squadron, Linton-upon-Ouse, Yorkshire."
Noyes died within a year in part due to his injuries. The crash occurred in a heavy fog when they crashed into trees on their third attempt to land.
Franklin Hanlan was from Ardrossan, Alberta, Canada where he worked as a mechanic as a young man. He sailed to the UK in January 1937 on board the "Ausonia". He was granted a commission in the RAF on 3rd May 1937 to the rank of P/O on probation, being confirmed in the rank of P/O on 1st March 1938. His father appears to have been Thomas Frank Hanlan who died at Vimy, France on 9th April 1917.
Christopher Bowring was born in 1918 at Upton upon Severn, Worcestershire and was the son of Christopher and Kathleen (nee Walsh) Bowring.
Frank Noyes was born in Essex in 1912 and was the son of Lewis Bruce and Mildred Mary (nee Gooding) Noyes. He gained his Wings in January 1935 and lost a leg as a result of the crash to Whitley K7261. He appears to have married in York in early 1939 just before being admitted to the Princess Mary Hospital at Halton, Buckinghamshire to have an artifical leg fitted. While this was being done on 20th April 1939 he sadly died.
Andrew Fleming was born on 19th June 1917, he recovered from his injuries sustained in 1938 and served throughout the Second World War receing a commission to the rank of P/O on probation on 8th September 1944. He rose to F/O on 8th March 1945. He died in Scarborough, North Yorkshire in 1990.
Whitley K7261 was built to contract 421118/35 by Armstrong Whitworth at Coventry and was allotted to 78 Squadron on 13th June 1938. The aircraft was taken on charge by 78 Squadron on 16th June 1938 and was then transferred to 51 Squadron on 22nd June 1938. As a result of the crash on 22nd October 1938 the aircraft was deemed beyond repair and was struck off charge. It had clocked up just 47 hours total flying time from new.
Aldwark is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the River Ure, about 14 miles from York.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976, page 59)
2. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1939.htm
3. (paywall) https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1938/1938%20-%203172.PDF
4. https://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york38/k7261.html
5. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?314-RAF-officer-deaths-1-1-29-3-9-39
6. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-armstrong-whitworth-aw38-whitley-ii-near-raf-linton-ouse-2-killed
7. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/137747487/franklin_gordon-hanlan
8. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/280212/
9. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/280114
10. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/280115/
11. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/137747487/franklin_gordon-hanlan
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldwark,_North_Yorkshire
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Mar-2018 19:54 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 04-Nov-2018 13:06 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator, ] |
| 02-Nov-2023 15:24 | TFRH | Updated |
| 14-May-2024 21:33 | Nepa | Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator, ] |
| 09-Aug-2025 05:41 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ] |
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