New light thrown on secret war flight disaster

Inside was a delegation of Russian military officials, assessing the country ahead of a top-secret visit by the Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, as well as six members of the RAF.

Without warning, the starboard engine failed and burst into flames, burning through the wing of the aircraft and sending it plummeting to the ground.

The plane crashed in a field in Great Ouseburn, near Boroughbridge, in a heap of twisted metal, killing all 10 people on board and scattering debris as far as three miles away.

At the time, the disaster caused an international scandal, British and Soviet military chiefs fearing the engine fire was the result of a Nazi plot.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who had travelled on the same aircraft with Charles de Gaulle in 1940, wrote to the RAF a week later demanding to know if the Flamingo planes were fit for purpose.

No evidence of sabotage was ever found.

Now, as the 70th anniversary approaches of the crash, viewed by historians as one of the most significant in Yorkshire throughout the Second World War, a new project involving 13 schools around Boroughbridge is bringing it back to life.

The Hands on the Past archaeology club, which is part of the Thornborough Trust and is being funded by £40,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, has discovered several eyewitnesses who saw the plane plummeting from the sky still living in the area.

And the project is now beginning work with the Russian Embassy following new evidence that the four Russians killed, who included one of the country’s finest pilots Maj Sergey Aleksandrovich Asyamov, are buried in Harrogate’s Stonefall Cemetery.

Margaret Stead, 84, of Moortown, Leeds, lived in Great Ouseburn during the war and this week spoke to young people at Boroughbridge Primary School as part of the project.

“It has been wonderful to re-live these memories with the children”, she said.

“It is a really inspiring project and so nice to see these children being so involved.

“When the plane crashed, we were having our tea when there was suddenly the most peculiar noise in the air above.

“It sounded as if it was coming right over our heads and was very frightening.

“We rushed outside and there was a big bang, then I just saw pieces of metal flying everywhere down the village street.

“I picked up a piece of twisted metal and kept it for several days afterwards as a souvenir, but these men kept coming back and searching in the fields so I decided to give it back.”

The project is being spearheaded by community archaeologist Kevin Cale, who has 24 years experience.

When he gained access to the field site of the crash a few months ago, metal detectors uncovered a sheet of scorched aluminium stamped with the serial number of the plane and a fuel gauge that had been previously undiscovered.

Mr Cale has also been contacted by a witness who saw a black limousine arrive at Stonefall Cemetery over Christmas with men in Russian military uniforms asking to see “the Russian graves”.

“It is very exciting”, he said. It has never been discovered where these men have been buried.

“The whole project coming together as it has done, is just incredible, and has been fantastic to work on.

“It is such a sad story and there are so many possibilities that still need chasing.

“The Flamingo aircraft was used between 1939 and 1954 but they have now all gone – there is not a single one left in any museum to look at.

“This flight was a special military delegation for the British and the Russians and it went terribly wrong.

“There were bombers coming down in Yorkshire the whole time during the war.

“This crash has very great regional significance, but beyond that, great international interest as well.”

The Hands on the Past project involves 50 children who have shown a special interest in history, from the cluster of primary schools around Boroughbridge High School.

It takes place outside of school hours and involves detailed fieldwork in the area, as well as visits to sites of special interest.

Mr Cale has been helped in the project by Yorkshire plane enthusiast Richard Allenby, who has spent years painstakingly researching aircraft crashes throughout Yorkshire, particularly around the North York Moors area.