Date: 01/02nd February 1945
Unit: No. 61 Squadron
Type: Lancaster I
Serial: NF912
Code: QR-?
Base: Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire.
Location: Airfield base
Pilot : Sq/Ldr. Hugh Wilkinson Horsley A.F.C. 68786 R.A.F.V.R. Age 28. Killed (1)
Fl/ Eng: W/O. Henry John Pyke 575245 R.A.F. Age ? Killed
Nav: Fl/Sgt. Samuel Fleet 1670353 R.A.F.V.R. Age 22. Killed
Air/Bmr: Fl/Sgt. Victor Douglas Merrow 1522918 R.A.F.V.R. Age ? Killed
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Leslie Chapman C.G.M. 1576762 R.A.F.V.R. Age 23. Killed
Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Arthur Albert Sherriff D.F.M. 514220 R.A.F. Age 35. Killed
Air/Gnr: Sgt. R.T. Hoskisson Injured. (1)
REASON FOR LOSS:
Took off at 15.42 hrs from Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire to join 271 Lancaster's and 11 Mosquitoes but the port outer engine cut as the Lancaster became airborne. After using considerable skills Sq/Ldr. Horsley managed to fly a very tight circuit and a minute later he force landed the aircraft back onto the field. As the aircraft touched down there was an explosion followed by fire. Just Sgt. Hoskisson escaped injured - the remainder tragically killed.
Hugh's brother Robert was also a Lancaster pilot at the time, flying with 617 Squadron at nearby Woodhall Spa. Apparently he saw the smoke from Hugh's crash, and on landing back at Woodhall Spa had been told of the crash at Skellingthorpe and instinctively knew it was his brother Hugh.
(1) Previously on the 23/24th September 1944 flying Lancaster III LM718 QR-E again with 61 Squadron on a raid to Ladbergen they were shot down by German Night fighters and the aircraft was abandoned. 2 of the crew were killed, Fl/Sgt. George Twyneham and Sgt. Herbert Jennings, 2 others made P.O.W.'s F/O. Webber and F/O. Wheeler and 3 managed to evade capture and return to England - Sq/Ldr. Horsley A.F.C. , P/O. Cawthorne D.F.M. and Sgt Hoskisson.
Above left: Sq/Ldr. Hugh Wilkinson Horsley A.F.C. Right: Fl/Sgt. Leslie Chapman C.G.M. (Courtesy Tony Cantlow)
61 Squadron Lancasters (Courtesy Tony Cantlow)
Wartime photo of R.A.F. Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire. (Courtesy Tony Cantlow)
Perimeter track of Skellingthorpe taken in 1998 - now a housing estate. (Courtesy Tony Cantlow)
R.A.F. Skellingthorpe memorial (Courtesy Tony Cantlow)
Burial details:
Sq/Ldr. Hugh Wilkinson Horsley. A.F.C. Leeds (Lawns Wood) Crematorium Screen wall. Panel 2.
Son of Edgar and Renee Horsley; husband of Mildred Elsie Horsley, of York.
W/O. Henry John Pyke. Beckenham Crematorium and Cemetery. Sec S.10 Grave 19894
No further details
Fl/Sgt. Samuel Fleet. Greatham Church Cemetery. Centre plot,
Son of Samuel and Rebecca Fleet, of Greatham.
Fl/Sgt. Victor Douglas Merrow. Tynemouth (Preston) Cemetery Sec. K. Grave 14509
Son of Victor and Elizabeth Merrow, husband of Linda Winifred Merrow, of North Shields.
Fl/Sgt. Leslie Chapman C.G.M. Whaplode Cemetery Grave 1391A.
Son of Ernest and Eva Ellen Chapman, of Moulton Washway.
Fl/Sgt. Arthur Albert Sherriff D.F.M. Cambridge City Cemetery Grave 15754
Son of Samuel L. Sherriff and Sarah Sherriff; husband of Marion Sherriff, of Bolton, Lancashire.
With great help from Tony Cantlow for the relatives of the crew.
With thanks to the following: Bill Chorley - "Bomber Command Losses Vol 3", Theo E.W. Boiten - Rod J. Mackenzie "German Nightfighter War Diaries", Martin Middlebrook "Bomber Command War Diaries". The superb work of the C.W.G.C.
