This is one incident that my webpage cannot really do justice in documenting, for reasons that will become clear the actions of one man on this flight deserve much more modern recognition than will be shown on this one webpage. With a new memorial being dedicated in Hudswell in 2011 there was much media interest in this incident, one such television program "The Dales" aired in April 2012 was superb.
At the time of the accident RAF Leeming was using Martinet NR570 aircraft as a target aircraft for crews training in the use of the interception radar flying in larger bomber-aircraft. In the Wellington on this day were Cadets from 1869 (Middlesbrough) Squadron ATC who were visiting Leeming in August 1951 during their summer camp and the boys were being given flights in both aircraft to demonstrate such techniques done in the RAF's training role. In the mid-afternoon of 13th August 1951 such a training flight was being carried out. Each aircraft was carrying one ATC Cadet and any other day such a flight would have been a fantastic experience for these young boys. There were three trainee navigators on the Wellington, all taking turns in doing the interceptions. Some would appear to have flying experience though and many were commissioned officers and it is probable that all has seen Wartime service. One of men these was certainly no novice, F/Lt Quinton had been a night-fighter navigator who was awarded the DFC in 1946 but was retraining at Leeming at the time of this accident. He had been de-mobbed after the War but had found civilian life hard and after five years had re-applied for a short-service commission. For him this training flight would have been very much run of the mill and really only a refresher course.
As the two flights begun the Martinet took off and flew away in one direction, a short time later the Wellington took off with seven on board and flew off in the opposite direction. The radar operators would then guide their pilot to the Martinet to practice their skills. Both aircraft were flying at between 8-10,000 feet and the area of the sky was free of cloud, without warning cloud closed in and soon after the Martinet appeared out of the cloud and was too close to the Wellington, it's wing struck the Wellington. The Martinet then went into a dive and crashed killing the two in the aircraft which included the ATC Cadet. Both probably stood no chance of being able to get out of the aircraft. The Wellington went into an uncontrollable spin and began to break up in midair. By the time of the collision the Cadet and F/Lt Quinton in the Wellington had taken up a position in the astrodome, Quinton had carried out his part of the exercise and had moved to one side to let one of the others have their turn. The tail section of the Wellington began to break away from the aircraft and there would have been very little the pilot would have been able to do to land the aircraft. In the Wellington at the time the parachutes of the aircrew were stowed awaiting use, seeing a parachute pack nearby F/Lt Quinton picked up this and clipped it on ATC Cadet Derek Coates' harness. He jestured to the Cadet how to deploy his parachute and then pushed him through a hole where the tail section of the aircraft was once attached and thus clear of the crashing aircraft. Such an action then prevented F/Lt Quinton's own survival as further parachutes were stowed in the rear of the aircraft and were by now impossible to get to. F/Lt Quinton would have known this and by these actions his own chances were limited. The aircraft crashed in fields around Hudswell, near Catterick, North Yorkshire and sadly the six remaining aircrew were killed in the crash. In all eight were killed in the collision.
In the days after the accident the surviving cadet identified F/Lt Quinton as being the one who saved his life. For this act of sacrifice it earned F/Lt John Quinton DFC a posthumous George Cross, which was awarded two months after the accident. The same page in the London Gazette also details the efforts carried out by SAC Malcolm Brown of RAF Kinloss who was awarded the BEM for his efforts in respect of the Lancaster which crashed on Beinn Eighe in Scotland. This incident is also covered in this website.
Pilot - F/O Peter Frederick Keeling RAF (582152), aged 22, of Southend on Sea, Essex. Buried Leeming Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Navigator - F/O George Michael Trotman RAF (1606829), aged 27, of Wooton under Edge, Glocestershire. Buried Painswick, Glocestershire.
Navigator U/T - F/Lt John Alan Quinton RAF GC DFC (115714), aged 30, of Lewisham, London. Buried Leeming Churchyard, Yorkshire.
Navigator U/T - P/O Frank Leslie Farrell RAF (582254), aged 22, of Docking, Norfolk. Buried Hessle Cemetery, Hull.
Navigator U/T - P/O Edwin George Percival Garratt RAF (2436405), aged 20, of Tooting, London. Buried Leeming Churchyard, Yorkshire.
? - F/O Dawyck George McLeod Veitch R(Aux)AF (178711), aged 37, of Harrogate, Yorkshire. Buried Wilford Hill Cemetery, Nottingham.
Passenger - Cadet Derek Coates ATC, aged 16, of Middlebrough. Survived.
F/Lt John Quinton GC DFC and his gravestone at Leeming Churchyard, Yorkshire. He was born in London in 1921, as a Scout he attended the World Jamboree in Holland in 1937 and again in the following year in Switzerland. He joined the RAF in 1941 and was commissioned to P/O on probation (emergency) on 27th January 1942, he rose to F/O on probation (war subs) on 1st October 1942 and to F/Lt (war subs) on 27th January 1944. He was awarded the DFC flying with night-fighter Mosquitos with 604 Squadron, Gazetted on 20th October 1944. The citation for his DFC reads.. "This officer has displayed commendable courage and devotion to duty in air operations. He is a navigator of high merit and has proved a valuable acquisition to the squadron. He has assisted in the destruction of three enemy aircraft."
John Quinton flew with W/Co Michael Constable-Maxwell DSO DFC for a long period of time in a number of Squadrons during the War, they had teamed up at 54 OTU, based at Church Fenton and they later flew with 264 Squadron and 604 Squadron before postings to India. His DFC was gained flying with this pilot. Constable-Maxwell had attended Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire. The photograph below was found in Flight Magazine's online archive shows John Quinton standing below and Constable-Maxwell sat on the aircraft.
Later having risen through the ranks to Squadron Leader (though possibly as Acting S/Ldr) he served in India and the Far East with 84 Squadron before leaving the RAF in 1946. Back in civilian-life he married and had a son, he also took up a role as Scout Leader in North London with his old troop. Unable to rejoin the RAF under his old rank he took the rank of F/Lt in 1951 and was undergoing a refresher course at the time of the accident near Richmond. Following his death the George Cross was presented to his widow by The Queen on 27th February 1952, the first such award of her reign. His medals are now on display in the Imperial War Museum, London.
The Quinton Trophy named in honour of F/Lt John Quinton was a trophy initially awarded at RAF Halton to the highest marks achieved by ATC Cadets, since the closure of this station it is now awarded at RAF Cranwell. There are also memorials at Whetstone United Reform Church and the Middlesbrough ATC group where their building is also named in his honour.
Peter Keeling trained at Cranwell and received his short short commission to P/O (permanent) on 5th April 1950 and rose to F/O on 5th April 1951 (with seniority back dated to his date of commission). He was flying with 228 OCU earlier in the year and on 16th January 1951 he was the pilot of Brigand RH770 that struck a tree near Timworth, Suffolk. He was able to abandon the aircraft and landed safely but the aircraft was destroyed in the resulting crash.
Edwin Garrett received his short service commission as P/O on 20th January 1951, with his period of service to count from 18th August 1949.
Frank Farrell was born on 23rd March 1929 at Docking, Norfolk. He received a commission on 3rd January 1951 to the rank of P/O with the period of service to count from 3rd August 1949. He was married at the time of his death.
F/O Veitch was serving with 504 Squadron.
On the sixtieth anniversary of the accident a memorial was dedicated in the village close to where the Wellington fell. The service was well attended by local people, Cadets and F/Lt John Quinton's son Mr Derek Quinton. A letter from Derek Coates was read out by event organiser John Ward.
Prior to The Dales television program being aired the location of where the bulk of the Wellington fell was probably not that well known today to people outside of the local community. Being interested in confirming the exact crash location air historians Ken Reast and Dick Barton sought permission from the tennant farmer on which the bulk of the Wellington was believed to have crashed and they traced a number of local people who remembered the incident. As often happens every local person recalled the correct field but the location in the field varied from person to person and it could well be that parts of the aircraft were scattered widely across the field. One lady, Mrs Margaret Vitty, was interviewed for The Dales program was traced by Ken and Dick and thanks to her that we were guided into the correct location for where the main bulk of the fuselage fell. A number of small fragments of the aircraft were found on the surface to confirm the location. I would like to thank the residents of the houses that the crash site backs on to for their help in confirming the crash location and to the tennant farmer for allowing our visit.
Two small fragments of the Wellington.
George Trotman received a short service commission to P/O on 9th December 1948 but with his period of service to count from 26th November 1946 when he extended his aircrew service. It seems likely that he had served in the War but then continued his post-War service after the 1946 RAF cut backs. He rose to F/O on 9th December 1949.
In later years Derek Coates emmigrated to Australia where it is believed he still lives.
