Halifax LL05 FD-S of 1659 HCU, RAF

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Reference WMO/175022

Address:

Great Carrs Mountain Summit

south of the Wrynose Pass

between Cockley Beck and Little Langdale

LA20 6EG

England

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Status: On original site
Type: Freestanding
Location: External
Setting: Roadside
Description: Cairn
Materials:
  • Rock/Rough Stone Rock/Rough Stone
  • Stone Slate
  • Timber Mahogany
Lettering: Inscribed on a plaque
Conflicts:
  • Second World War (1939-1945)
About the memorial: Cairn with a wooden Cross. Halifax LL505 came to grief on Great Carrs in the Lake District on the night of 22nd October 1944 whilst on a night navigation exercise from Topcliffe in Yorkshire. Its crew; seven Canadians and one Scot, encountered very thick cloud whilst over the north-west of England, they circled the aircraft hoping the cloud would clear but this made them even more lost. The pilot then descended so the navigator could get a visual fix on the ground but by this stage it was flying too low in the heart of the Lakes. In a few seconds the aircraft hit the top of Great Carrs and crashed killing all on board. The wreckage partly caught fire but was almost intact when found by rescuers. As the RAF crash team could not remove it from the site because of its size and location it was broken into movable sized pieces and, because if left where it was then other aircraft flying overhead would report it, it was pushed off the side of the mountain into Broad Slack, where much of it remains today. Pilot - F/O John Armstrong Johnston RCAF (C/29783) [Royal Canadian Air Force], aged 27, of Carp, Ontario, Canada. Buried Blacon Cemetery, Chester. Navigator - F/O Francis Aubrey Bell RCAF (J/39888), aged 33, of Hampton, New Brunswick, Canada. Buried Blacon Cemetery, Chester. Bomb Aimer - P/O Robert Newton Whitley RCAF (J/38243), aged 20, of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Buried Blacon Cemetery, Chester. Flight Engineer - Sgt Harvey Ellsworth Pyche RCAF (R/225354), aged 21, of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Canada. Buried Blacon Cemetery,Chester. Flight Engineer - Sgt William Brisbane Ferguson RAFVR (1826294), aged 19, of Caldercruix. Buried New Monkland Cemetery, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Calvin George Whittingstall RCAF (R/198207), aged 20, of Mount Dennis, Ontario, Canada. Buried Blacon Cemetery, Chester. Air Gunner - Sgt Donald Fraser Titt RCAF (R/271259), aged 19, of Rockwood, Ontario, Canada. Buried Blacon Cemetery, Chester. Air Gunner - Sgt George Riddoch RCAF (R/259938), aged 20, of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. Buried Blacon Cemetery, Chester.
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HALIFAX BOMBER/LL 505-‘S’ FOR SUGAR/RCAF/OCTOBER 22, 1944

NONE- but see above for details of the aircrew lost

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