6 Group Unavailable
1663 Heavy Conversion Unit, RAF Rufforth. Halifax BV aircraft DG 420 SV-H collided in mid-air with 1658 Heavy Conversion Unit Halifax II aircraft R9497. Both aircraft crashed one mile south of York at Copmanthorpe, Yorkshire with the loss of both aircrews and seriously injuring three civilians on the ground
Aboard Halifax DG 420, Flying Officer Murray Wallace Bonner (RCAF), Sergeant Albert Edward Gilverson (RCAF), Sergeant Donald Charles Ravine (RAF), Sergeant Norman John Hart (RAFVR), Sergeant John Howison Townsend (RAFVR), Sergeant Peter Cross Parrott (RAFVR) and Sergeant Frederick David Read (RAFVR) were killed in this flying accident
Aboard Halifax R9497, the all RAF crew of Sergeant Terrance Claude Ashley (RAFVR), Sergeant Thomas Robert McMeeken (RAFVR), Sergeant Albert James Allen (RAFVR), Sergeant Joseph John O'Brien (RAFVR), Sergeant Frederick Cosford (RAFVR), Sergeant Douglas Leonard Herbert Wooster (RAFVR) and Flying Officer Robert Frank Walker (RAFVR) were all killed in the collision
On the ground, three civilians, and adult male, Mr Atkinson and two boys, Master Malcolm Bisley and Master John Dawson were all seriously injured.
Some detail provided by David E Thompson, Stockton-on-Tees, England
Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database
