Date:	Monday 6 November 1939
Time:	21:20
Type:	Supermarine Spitfire Mk I
Owner/operator:	41 Sqn RAF
Registration:	K9846
MSN:	58
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Mowbray Road, Catterick Village, North Yorkshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Catterick, North Yorkshire
Destination airport:	RAF Catterick

Narrative:
First flown 13-1-39. Delivered to the RAF at Catterick for 41 Squadron 22-1-39. Coded 'EB-B' from 3-9-39.

On 6-11-39, two 41 Squadron Spitfires took off at about 21:20 for flying practice in blackout conditions and
a night interception and recognition exercise. A Whitley of 10 (B) Squadron may have been involved.
After climbing to around 200 feet the leading Spitfire, piloted by Flying Officer Horace E.H.Overall, banked right, lost height and struck a telegraph pole in front of a house in Mowbray Road, Catterick. The RAF's crash card, the Form AM1180, mentions a possibility that there was a glycol leak on the aircraft which may have reduced the pilots forward vision.

The wrecked plane caught fire and the house where it crashed, belonging to the Hughes family, was also damaged. The second aircraft was piloted by Sgt George Bennions and was already in the air by the time the other aircraft had crashed. Bennions returned to base and drove into the village to assist. He lived on Mowbray Road at the time, and, as he turned down the street it appeared that his own house was on fire. Bennion's wife was attempting to rescue the pilot from his burning aircraft. The Bennions lived next door to the house which suffered the most damage, and where the Spitfire had crashed.

Sadly, nothing could be done for the pilot, and despite various rescue attempts, all were in vain. He was buried in Catterick Cemetery some days later.

As a happy ending to this incident, the Overall family in Canada heard about the rescue attempts and the burial service, and they offered to take the two Hughes children (those being the children who lived in the house where the aircraft crashed) to Canada for the duration of the war for their safety. This offer was accepted and Maureen (aged 12) and Tony (aged 14) Hughes sailed for Niagara Falls in early 1942. A Canadian newspaper reported that "the Canadian Government defrayed the costs of transportation and the children arrived safely in Toronto, where they were the guests of the Government until Mrs Overall arrived to take charge of them".

Pilot - Flying Officer Horace Ernest Herbert Overall RAF (Service Number 39331), aged 26, of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Buried at Catterick Cemetery, Yorkshire.
R.I.P.

Spitfire K9846 was Struck Off Charge on 21-11-39.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976 page 79
2. http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york39/k9846.html
3. 41 Sqn ORB (Air Ministry Form 540) November 1939: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8411809
4. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1939a.htm
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p001.html
6. http://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/K9846
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2407224/overall,-horace-ernest-herbert/

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
05-Jan-2011 21:37	angels one five	Added
07-Sep-2011 02:38	angels one five	Updated [Narrative, ]
17-Nov-2011 04:14	angels one five	Updated [Operator, ]
17-Nov-2011 14:37	angels one five	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, ]
25-Dec-2011 06:01	Nepa	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, ]
10-Jan-2012 16:23	angels one five	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Narrative, ]
15-Jan-2012 02:18	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, ]
22-Jan-2012 19:51	angels one five	Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative, ]
07-May-2012 13:19	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]
30-May-2012 00:30	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Location, ]
29-Oct-2012 14:13	angels one five	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative, ]
09-Jun-2013 10:25	angels one five	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative, ]
26-Jun-2013 19:22	Nepa	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, ]
05-Sep-2013 19:05	angels one five	Updated [Operator, Narrative, ]
01-Oct-2013 18:03	JINX	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative, ]
19-Jan-2014 23:16	angels one five	Updated [Time, Operator, ]
29-Jan-2014 23:56	angels one five	Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative, ]
30-Jan-2014 07:38	angels one five	Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative, ]
06-Jun-2015 20:17	Gun	Updated [Time, Operator, Departure airport, ]
25-Apr-2018 17:04	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]
06-Oct-2018 05:27	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator, ]
06-Feb-2021 07:59	angels one five	Updated [Narrative, ]