Handley Page Halifax NR287

Inscription

Plaque: Here on March 15th 1945 Fell a Halifax Bomber Returning from an Operational Flight. The Following Members of the Crew Were Killed. [crew names listed on memorial] Scroll: 347 (Tunisie) Sqn This plaque is a memorial to five Free French Airmen killed as they returned to their base at Elvington from their thirty eighth and last mission. Unable to land due to a build up of other returning aircraft they flew north to await their turn to land. HALIFAX NR 287 LB-C (Charles) fate was sealed when, with damaged instruments and zero visibility, it struck a stone wall strewing debris across the fields. The Halifax spilled out two of its occupants as it slithered and bounced its way across the earth, it punched its way through another wall and became airborne for a few hundred yards before finally being brought rest against a tree on farmland about half a mile from this church. Only the Flight Engineer and Rear Gunner escaped, though badly injured from the wreckage. For some years the plaque was attached to the tree against which the Halifax came to rest until the tree fell and the plaque was removed to the church porch here in Scawton. Lest we Forget

Last updated 2026-04-12