Date:	Sunday 15 December 1940
Time:	18:35
Type:	Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk V
Owner/operator:	77 Sqn RAF
Registration:	T4138
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 5
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Arden Great Moor near Northallerton, North Yorkshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Topcliffe
Destination airport:

Narrative:
During the night of 15-16 December 1940 RAF Bomber Command dispatched 71 bombers (Hampdens, Wellingtons and Whitleys) to bomb Berlin, Frankfurt and Kiel. Less than half of the crew reported bombing their primary target. On the German side, Kiel reported bombs in the naval yard and in other parts of the town, a soldier and a civilian killed, five more people wounded and some houses destroyed. Three Whitleys did not return, being lost in the North Sea with all of their 15 crew. A fourth one ditched off Whitby (crew saved) and a fifth crashed in England (one killed and four wounded). The same night 8 Hampdens flew a minelaying operation off Britanny without loss.
__________________________________________________________

The Whitley V T4138 of 77 Sqn RAF took off at 1641 hrs on the 15th from Topcliffe to attack Berlin. After sometime in the air an engine failed on this aircraft so the pilot turned back for base with the bomb load on board. The weather over the high ground of North Yorkshire was bad at the time of the return flight and although the aircraft made it over the moors on the return it circled the aerodrome for sometime while flying on the one good engine. It was during one of these circles that it hit the high ground at 1835 hrs on the edge of Arden Great Moor and caught fire. Despite the fire the bomb load remained intact and there are no signs of craters at the site today which surely would have resulted in the explosions.

Of the five crew, four survived with injuries and one was killed in the impact. One of the crew struggled down the hillside to get help, due to his injuries this took some time. When he reached a nearby farm, the farmer was able to summon help to rescue the rest of his crew.

Crew:
Plt Off Hayden Hugh James Miller (pilot, of Morrinsville, New Zealand) injured
Sgt Douglas Henry Gilbert (second pilot) injured
Sgt Gordon Thorpe (observer) injured
Sgt Cyril Williams (wireless operator/air gunner) killed
Sgt Albert Edward Hammond (wireless operator/air gunner) injured

This aircraft had been issued to 77 Sqn in August 1940 and only served with this unit.

http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/planes/40/t4138.html
https://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/crash_sites/north-yorkshire-moors/armstrong-whitworth-whitley-t4138-arden-great-moor/
"The Bomber Command War Diaries", by Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt, ISBN 1-85780-033-8
"Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, vol 1: Aircraft and Crew lost during 1939-1940", by W R Chorley. ISBN 0-904597-85-7
"Battle of Britain-The Forgotten Months, November and December 1940", by John Foreman. ISBN 1-871187-02-8
https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/arden-great-moor-ryedale

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
05-Aug-2008 10:22	Anon.	Added
29-Sep-2008 00:13	Anon.	Updated
09-May-2013 07:28	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Departure airport, Narrative]
18-Dec-2017 14:47	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Time, Phase, Source, Narrative]