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On the left is an aircraft, similar to the type that crashed in Swanland at 11:45am on the second of September, 1944.
On the right is Flight Lieutenant Leslie Cumberworth RAF (Volunteer Reserve) who was in the cockpit when the Haifax bomber came down. |
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Eye witness account - by Derek Brooks
Late in the morning (I now know it was 11.45) of Saturday 2nd September 1944, I was in my home 1 Crowther Lane (now known as Dale Road). I heard the loud noise of aircraft engines. I dashed to the front door that opened directly onto the street. I got out into the street in time to see the dark underbelly of an aircraft, it seemed to shut out all of the light although it was only the port wing. I really expected it to take our chinmey pots off. It was obvious that it was going to crash.
I set off and ran after it shouting to a lady in a bedroom window to “bring sheets Mrs Jackson as we will need them for bandages”. Mere House in those days had a very long garden bounded on its eastern side by a few tall elm trees. The plane went though the small branches of the last one where part of its propeller broke off, landing many hundred of yards away in Westerdales farm on Westfield Lane. At this time the aircraft was heading straight for a row of terraced houses. Miraculously it banked slightly to the left and slid sideways into a very small field on the opposite side of the road that was no longer than twice its wingspan. Had it not banked it would have taken out eight terraced houses and a bungalow, the last houses on that side of the road. The pilot had obviously hoped to scrape over the houses into the open field beyond.
As it happened his plane was arrested by a fence and a narrow copse of fir trees. The tail section broke off and folded over the wing to stick up in the air partly in the garden behind the first of two pair of semi detached houses. As I passed the houses that had been saved, Mrs Hick was standing outside her front door with her baby in her arms, no more than twenty yards from where the first piece of aircraft had hit the ground.
Yes, I was first on the scene; what to do? I entered the field that seemed to be full of shattered aircraft. I was quickly followed by George Watson the blacksmith who was totally stone deaf and Les Holdstock. I nudged the blacksmith and pointed to a man who was lying on the floor and his reply was “lets attend the ones that are living”. Perhaps the biggest surprise was one of the crew was staggering around. I have often remarked about how true films depict airmen after a crash. Yes, his trousers were in shreds and he looked dirty. We sat him down and tried to comfort him and Les climbed into the rear fuselage to see if he could see anyone else.
We found another man who was unconscious. I don't know much about him, as at that time I elected to scramble through two hedges and bring back a first aid kit from firemen who had tried to get to the crash through Westerdale’s farm.
By this time a fire had started and, as it spread, it set off a flare and bullets were wizzing about and we took shelter behind the fire trucks. When the flames reached the wings, the petrol tanks exploded showering us with aluminium shrapnel. The firemen sprayed the wing with foam, putting out the fire. I was later amazed that the lower half of the oval tank still contained green petrol. At one stage bullets were flying across the road; you could hear them singing through the hedges. We had to shout at a lady from the farms to go back; she jumped off her bike quick when she heard why.
Peculiarly there was not a mark on the road. The nearest thing to the road by the gate, that was still standing, was the rear turret - all by itself. In the afternoon airmen arrived to guard the wreckage and from then on we were not allowed in the field. When I arrived home my mother informed me that I had missed my dinner and tea. What an exciting but tragic day and how much worse could it have been for a thirteen year old boy?
Derek Brooks
Late in the morning (I now know it was 11.45) of Saturday 2nd September 1944, I was in my home 1 Crowther Lane (now known as Dale Road). I heard the loud noise of aircraft engines. I dashed to the front door that opened directly onto the street. I got out into the street in time to see the dark underbelly of an aircraft, it seemed to shut out all of the light although it was only the port wing. I really expected it to take our chinmey pots off. It was obvious that it was going to crash.
I set off and ran after it shouting to a lady in a bedroom window to “bring sheets Mrs Jackson as we will need them for bandages”. Mere House in those days had a very long garden bounded on its eastern side by a few tall elm trees. The plane went though the small branches of the last one where part of its propeller broke off, landing many hundred of yards away in Westerdales farm on Westfield Lane. At this time the aircraft was heading straight for a row of terraced houses. Miraculously it banked slightly to the left and slid sideways into a very small field on the opposite side of the road that was no longer than twice its wingspan. Had it not banked it would have taken out eight terraced houses and a bungalow, the last houses on that side of the road. The pilot had obviously hoped to scrape over the houses into the open field beyond.
As it happened his plane was arrested by a fence and a narrow copse of fir trees. The tail section broke off and folded over the wing to stick up in the air partly in the garden behind the first of two pair of semi detached houses. As I passed the houses that had been saved, Mrs Hick was standing outside her front door with her baby in her arms, no more than twenty yards from where the first piece of aircraft had hit the ground.
Yes, I was first on the scene; what to do? I entered the field that seemed to be full of shattered aircraft. I was quickly followed by George Watson the blacksmith who was totally stone deaf and Les Holdstock. I nudged the blacksmith and pointed to a man who was lying on the floor and his reply was “lets attend the ones that are living”. Perhaps the biggest surprise was one of the crew was staggering around. I have often remarked about how true films depict airmen after a crash. Yes, his trousers were in shreds and he looked dirty. We sat him down and tried to comfort him and Les climbed into the rear fuselage to see if he could see anyone else.
We found another man who was unconscious. I don't know much about him, as at that time I elected to scramble through two hedges and bring back a first aid kit from firemen who had tried to get to the crash through Westerdale’s farm.
By this time a fire had started and, as it spread, it set off a flare and bullets were wizzing about and we took shelter behind the fire trucks. When the flames reached the wings, the petrol tanks exploded showering us with aluminium shrapnel. The firemen sprayed the wing with foam, putting out the fire. I was later amazed that the lower half of the oval tank still contained green petrol. At one stage bullets were flying across the road; you could hear them singing through the hedges. We had to shout at a lady from the farms to go back; she jumped off her bike quick when she heard why.
Peculiarly there was not a mark on the road. The nearest thing to the road by the gate, that was still standing, was the rear turret - all by itself. In the afternoon airmen arrived to guard the wreckage and from then on we were not allowed in the field. When I arrived home my mother informed me that I had missed my dinner and tea. What an exciting but tragic day and how much worse could it have been for a thirteen year old boy?
Derek Brooks
Summary - by John Wheeler
The HALIFAX BOMBER was not as notorious as its brother the LANCASTER, although they were similar in size. The Halifax that crashed in Swanland was LL362 of Number 1662 Heavy Conversion Unit [HCU]. It set off from its base R.A.F. Blyton near Gainsborough in Lincolnshire.
It steered a northerly course that brought it over Swanland. As it was a training squadron, it was not fully armed with bombs although its guns were armed, but it was flying with a much reduced crew of three instead of the normal seven.
In a letter to John Wheeler, the first mentioned name that may infer that he was Pilot 1 was
160680 F/O Jack Esdale R.A.F. (Volunteer reserve) pilot in a later letter described as Flying instructor
And
120434 Flt/Lt Leslie Cumberworth R.A.F. (Volunteer Reserve) in the second letter described as pilot.
Who was Pilot 1 and who was Pilot 2 was not established. Unfortunately neither survived the crash.
The third crew member was Flight engineer Sgt. E. A. Brown; he survived the crash.
The aircraft was said to be on a test flight and after crossing the Humber it was not able to gain height. It was reported that it had aileron failure; this would not have caused height loss and I know that they had some engine [problems] although I cannot say how many. The ailerons must have worked or he would not have been able to bank easily to miss the houses. It would seem more likely that the elevator was not functioning; thus not being able to get the nose up. This is speculation and we may never know the truth.
The HALIFAX BOMBER was not as notorious as its brother the LANCASTER, although they were similar in size. The Halifax that crashed in Swanland was LL362 of Number 1662 Heavy Conversion Unit [HCU]. It set off from its base R.A.F. Blyton near Gainsborough in Lincolnshire.
It steered a northerly course that brought it over Swanland. As it was a training squadron, it was not fully armed with bombs although its guns were armed, but it was flying with a much reduced crew of three instead of the normal seven.
In a letter to John Wheeler, the first mentioned name that may infer that he was Pilot 1 was
160680 F/O Jack Esdale R.A.F. (Volunteer reserve) pilot in a later letter described as Flying instructor
And
120434 Flt/Lt Leslie Cumberworth R.A.F. (Volunteer Reserve) in the second letter described as pilot.
Who was Pilot 1 and who was Pilot 2 was not established. Unfortunately neither survived the crash.
The third crew member was Flight engineer Sgt. E. A. Brown; he survived the crash.
The aircraft was said to be on a test flight and after crossing the Humber it was not able to gain height. It was reported that it had aileron failure; this would not have caused height loss and I know that they had some engine [problems] although I cannot say how many. The ailerons must have worked or he would not have been able to bank easily to miss the houses. It would seem more likely that the elevator was not functioning; thus not being able to get the nose up. This is speculation and we may never know the truth.
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Jack Esdale was buried at Wood Green Cemetery, Tottenham
And
Les Cumberworth was buried at Queensgate Cemetery, Woodmansey, Beverley
And
Les Cumberworth was buried at Queensgate Cemetery, Woodmansey, Beverley
Acknowledgements
Our thanks go to John Wheeler for allowing us to publish his work. He used the services of Brian Rapier and P.C.Thorkildsen for some of the facts and information about the crash, and our thanks go to them for helping John with his summary.
John also enlisted the help of the Public Record Office, reference AIR 28/87, for information about the crew and the aircraft's mission.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission provided information to John concerning the whereabouts of the graves of the two pilots that were killed.
Janet Barnes and Deborah Parry collected these photos for the presentation by the Heritage Centre's Chairman, Martin Parry, at the AGM and 10th Anniversary of the Swanland Heritage Centre. Martin Parry took the 2023 crash site photo.
Ian Macfarlane produced the image of the supposed flight path and crash site of the Halifax bomber; he used a detail of an aerial view of the village in 1972, which can be found in the Roads section of the Photo Galleries on this website.
Our thanks go to John Wheeler for allowing us to publish his work. He used the services of Brian Rapier and P.C.Thorkildsen for some of the facts and information about the crash, and our thanks go to them for helping John with his summary.
John also enlisted the help of the Public Record Office, reference AIR 28/87, for information about the crew and the aircraft's mission.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission provided information to John concerning the whereabouts of the graves of the two pilots that were killed.
Janet Barnes and Deborah Parry collected these photos for the presentation by the Heritage Centre's Chairman, Martin Parry, at the AGM and 10th Anniversary of the Swanland Heritage Centre. Martin Parry took the 2023 crash site photo.
Ian Macfarlane produced the image of the supposed flight path and crash site of the Halifax bomber; he used a detail of an aerial view of the village in 1972, which can be found in the Roads section of the Photo Galleries on this website.
Sources in the Swanland Heritage Centre
There are three letters that are filed with Derek Brooks' account and John Wheeler's summary in the Swanland Heritage Centre. These are:-
(1) March 12, 1982. Letter from P.C.Thorkildsen to John Wheeler, giving details of the date of the crash, the aircraft designation and R.A.F. station.
(2) April 15, 1982. Letter from P.C.Thorkildsen to John Wheeler, giving details of the crew, the mission of the flight and sources of further information.
(3) April 26, 1982 Letter from Antony Rose at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to John Wheeler, giving details of the two pilots who were killed and the whereabouts of their graves.
There are three letters that are filed with Derek Brooks' account and John Wheeler's summary in the Swanland Heritage Centre. These are:-
(1) March 12, 1982. Letter from P.C.Thorkildsen to John Wheeler, giving details of the date of the crash, the aircraft designation and R.A.F. station.
(2) April 15, 1982. Letter from P.C.Thorkildsen to John Wheeler, giving details of the crew, the mission of the flight and sources of further information.
(3) April 26, 1982 Letter from Antony Rose at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to John Wheeler, giving details of the two pilots who were killed and the whereabouts of their graves.
Another memory of the Halifax crash on this website. This will open in a new window
Norma Levinson Sedler's account, part of her wartime memories of Swanland.
Norma Levinson Sedler's account, part of her wartime memories of Swanland.
The crash site and the fir trees, photographed in 2023 |
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Links to relevant websites. These will open in a new window.
Bomber County Aviation Resource - Blyton Airfield History
Northlincsweb.net - RAF Blyton - Lincolnshire
Northlincsweb.net - RAF Elsham Wolds, local crashes
Wikipedia - RAF Blyton
Wikipedia - Handley Page Halifax bomber
IBCC digital archive at Lincoln University - Tom Waller's interview, which gives details of how the family of Les Cumberworth were told of the correct location of his grave.
RAF Commands database - Flying Officer Jack ESDALE (160680) of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Commonwealth war graves commission - Casualty-details/2432966/jack-esdale/
Bomber County Aviation Resource - Blyton Airfield History
Northlincsweb.net - RAF Blyton - Lincolnshire
Northlincsweb.net - RAF Elsham Wolds, local crashes
Wikipedia - RAF Blyton
Wikipedia - Handley Page Halifax bomber
IBCC digital archive at Lincoln University - Tom Waller's interview, which gives details of how the family of Les Cumberworth were told of the correct location of his grave.
RAF Commands database - Flying Officer Jack ESDALE (160680) of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Commonwealth war graves commission - Casualty-details/2432966/jack-esdale/
This plaque is to be found in Christ Church, by the Pond in Swanland.