Whitley Mk.V BD230

Whitley Mk.V BD230

24 July 1944. Towards the end of a navigational exercise Whitley BD230 dived into the ground 1.5km north of the village of Weston Underwood in Derbyshire, on its return to base at RAF Ashbourne. All crew on board were killed in the crash, the cause of which is unknown. The remains of three of the crew were not recovered from the crash site.

CREW (all killed, the remains of those marked * are still on site)

Sergeant John William Edward Cooper, pilot*
Sergeant Henry Cowan, navigator*
Sergeant William Brooksbank Smith, bomb aimer
Sergeant William Clifford Norcross, wireless operator*
Sergeant Maurice Mitchell Lyon, air gunner

The site is in a field with a footpath nearby. The grid reference is SK 29516 43973, courtesy of Sean at UK Air Crash Site Coordinates.

Sean and I visited and photographed this site on 02 January 2025. The lead image has been edited to remove a flag which was draped across the memorial.

Below; photo of Sergeant Cooper and the crew of BD230.

L-R Sgt Lyon, Sgt Cowan, Sgt Cooper, Sgt Smith, Sgt Norcross.
Image source War Memorials Online