Halifax area Halifax Memorial

On the morning of 7 February 1944, Flight Lieutenant Hodson -- an experienced and decorated instructor pilot -- took his trainee crew up from Rufforth for a daytime training flight. The weather was appalling: total cloud covered the Yorkshire Wolds down to ground level. At 10:15 hours, flying blind, the Halifax struck the summit of Garrowby Hill at around 800 feet, one of the highest points on the A166 road between York and the coast. The aircraft crossed the road and exploded. At that precise moment, Arthur Kirkby was driving his milk collection lorry along the road on his rounds to the surrounding farms. The Halifax struck the lorry, killing Kirkby instantly alongside all seven airmen. Hodson, who held the Distinguished Flying Cross from operational service, was 30 years old -- the two youngest crew members, gunners McDonald and Booker, were both 19. One crew member initially survived the impact but died later in York Hospital. The regular bomb aimer, Alun Emlyn-Jones, had been taken off the flight that morning due to an erupting appendix -- a twist of fate that saved his life and drove him, decades later, to campaign for a permanent memorial.