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George DICKINSON — 2851078

On the 6th September 1941 I was serving with 410 Battery, 53rd Searchlight Regiment, R.A. (originally 5th Battalion Royal Northumberland Fusiliers T.A.) on a site near Brunton, Christen Bank, Northumberland, where in the early evening an R.A.F. Whitley plane number Z6932 circled the area. It came over so low that the crew could be seen. We tried to indicate that they should fly South to locate, Acklington Airfield, but they eventually landed on the partially built Brunton Airfield some ½ mile away. Three of my colleagues led by Lance Bombardier Bob Furness, from Gosforth ran up to meet the crew and they explained that they only had to follow the railway line Southwards to land at Acklington. The pilot stated that they had been out over the North Sea for testing and training but their navigational instruments had failed and they were lost. They decided to take off again to locate Acklington. After taxiing to the end of the runway they took off North — South and as the plane became airborne the pilot was so low that he struck a steamroller causing the nose to come up sharply and come into contact with some live high tension wires which were still in place. The plane burst into flames and crashed.

Furness and his colleagues who were still nearby saw that the rear gunner was struggling to get out of the rear turret, which at that time was not in flames. They somehow managed to get him out, but were unable to do anything for the rest of the crew.

Another colleague and I, having seen the crash, jumped into our site van and rushed to the airfield in time to see the rescuers dragging the injured rear gunner away from the flames as the fuel tanks blew up and ammunition was popping all over the place. He managed to explain that there were no bombs on board and with great difficulty we managed to lift him to the floor of the van then we drove very slowly to a nearby farmhouse where he was given help before he was taken by ambulance to Newcastle General Hospital.

The 3 other members of the crew, Pilot Officer R S Austin, R.N.Z.A.F, aged 21, Flight Sergeant W Stuart , Pilot R Canadian A.F. and Sergeant P W Bryant, Observer R.A.F. perished in the flames. Austin and Stuart are buried in Chevington Churchyard, (Northumberland).

The survivor was Sergeant Whitlock, Wireless Operator/Rear Gunner, R.A.F. and after recovering from his injuries he returned to active service. Later in the war he undertook further training, became a pilot, was commissioned and posted to the Middle East. Sadly on 16th June 1944, while flying in a Wellington of 76th Operational Training Unit he was involved in an air crash. Tragically he was the only member of the crew of 6 who lost his life. The other crew members survived with only minor injuries.

After the Whitley crash, the airfield contractors blocked off the runway with barriers of oil barrels and planks of wood so that no further planes could land. However some two weeks later a single engine R.A.F. fighter circled our A.A. site and landed with undercarriage up in a field next to us, scattering the sheaves of corn stacked up for harvesting. I was first on the scene and the pilot explained that he had been out over the North Sea, ran short of fuel and tried to land in Britton, but the barriers were too numerous. He contacted his base which was Drem near North Berwick and we took him to Christen Bank Station where he caught a train home. I think that he had a red face when he returned to colleagues minus his plane.

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