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Air Crash at Box February 1943: Dennis Oswald Moss Killed Christopher and Denise Moss All photos courtesy Christopher Moss Research by David Wright and Barry Cox January 2018 Denise Moss wrote to us: In an air crash at Hazelbury House Farm on 27 February 1943 Dennis Oswald Moss, my husband's father, was killed. The Wellington he was in lost control and crashed, killing everyone aboard. I would appreciate any information or suggestions to allow us to visit the area and pay our respects to Dennis some time next year, the 75th anniversary of his death and to remember the father that Christopher lost when he was only two. Right: Dennis Moss photographed on call-up in 1941. |
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Dennis Oswald Moss
Dennis Oswald Moss was born 8 October 1912 in Dewsbury. He was the son of Councillor Dennis Moss, founder of Dennis Moss & Son, cloth finishers, and Martha Moss (nee Holmes) and his father was a distinguished local man, mayor of Morley in 1940. Dennis Oswald was a significant Yorkshire business man in his own right, a director of Albert Mills (Morley) Co Ltd, and father and son were generous benefactors, having set up a fund for three Grammar School scholarships for science and technology in November 1942 only weeks before Dennis’ death.[1]
Dennis Oswald Moss was born 8 October 1912 in Dewsbury. He was the son of Councillor Dennis Moss, founder of Dennis Moss & Son, cloth finishers, and Martha Moss (nee Holmes) and his father was a distinguished local man, mayor of Morley in 1940. Dennis Oswald was a significant Yorkshire business man in his own right, a director of Albert Mills (Morley) Co Ltd, and father and son were generous benefactors, having set up a fund for three Grammar School scholarships for science and technology in November 1942 only weeks before Dennis’ death.[1]
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Dennis Oswald had married Ruth Briggs, eldest daughter of an Ossett mill owner, in July 1938.[2] On the outbreak of war in 1939 they were living at Rydal, Rein Road, Morley and Dennis was described as a Master Woollen Cloth Finisher. They were both university graduates, Dennis from Leeds, and Ruth from London University.
Dennis joined the RAF in September 1941, despite being in a reserved occupation and trained in South Africa from March until October 1942, when he was granted a commission as Pilot Officer with Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, Service Number 130874. |
Wedding notice (courtesy The Leeds Mercury 21 July 1938)
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Official Report
The official record of the tragedy reads: 27 February 1943 Wellington Mark III, serial number X3985 Training: After engine failure, the trainee pilot lost control and crashed at Hazelbury House Farm, Box, Wiltshire. All the occupants were killed.
The Ministry of Defence wrote to Christopher giving more details of the tragedy:
On 27 February 1943, the crew of X3985 was tasked with a cross-country bombing exercise. At 1500 hours, the aircraft was seen to approach Colerne airfields at downwind in a gentle right-hand turn and at a low speed with port engine turning over slowly. The aircraft was in a position to land downwind with the undercarriage retracted, but continued to turn towards Box, where in an attempt to climb, the aircraft stalled and crashed at Hazelbury House Farm, near Box. It was stated that the aircraft was unable to maintain height on one engine, although it could not be determined whether the engine failed or not as the crew may have been practising one engine flying.
The official record of the tragedy reads: 27 February 1943 Wellington Mark III, serial number X3985 Training: After engine failure, the trainee pilot lost control and crashed at Hazelbury House Farm, Box, Wiltshire. All the occupants were killed.
The Ministry of Defence wrote to Christopher giving more details of the tragedy:
On 27 February 1943, the crew of X3985 was tasked with a cross-country bombing exercise. At 1500 hours, the aircraft was seen to approach Colerne airfields at downwind in a gentle right-hand turn and at a low speed with port engine turning over slowly. The aircraft was in a position to land downwind with the undercarriage retracted, but continued to turn towards Box, where in an attempt to climb, the aircraft stalled and crashed at Hazelbury House Farm, near Box. It was stated that the aircraft was unable to maintain height on one engine, although it could not be determined whether the engine failed or not as the crew may have been practising one engine flying.
Box seen from Colerne. The aircraft would have come down extreme left (courtesy Carol Payne)
The problem with this report is the strange name of Hazelbury House Farm and no plane crash has ever been reported at Hazelbury Manor.[3] The mystery seemed insoluble but then we had two marvellous breakthroughs. The first was that Hazelbury House was the name sometimes given to other local farms, not Hazelbury Manor at all.[4] Then we were told about a contemporary report of the crash.
Eye-witness notes kept by ARP warden Eddie Callaway at the Air Raid Precaution Post 4 said:[5] British plane crashed at tunnel end. In crashing struck airshaft of Box Tunnel; occupants all killed. Fire has caught the wood surrounding, making it impossible to approach - 7.45pm. Line blocked and fire brigade called for but did not arrive. Fire burnt out by 8.30pm.
Ambulances called, two arrived. First at 9.29pm, the second missed its way and arrived 10pm. Two casualties (bodies) loaded into each and sent from incident at 10.15pm.
Eddie Callaway's report scrupulously avoids naming Hazelbury (which, as a local person, he would have done) and puts the crash in the middle of nowhere. But the airshaft reference limits the place to only a couple of sites. The most likely one is number 6 shaft, the current site of Woodlands Adventurers Limited. The airshaft there was cleared some years ago and with it they removed any remains of the plane.
Eye-witness notes kept by ARP warden Eddie Callaway at the Air Raid Precaution Post 4 said:[5] British plane crashed at tunnel end. In crashing struck airshaft of Box Tunnel; occupants all killed. Fire has caught the wood surrounding, making it impossible to approach - 7.45pm. Line blocked and fire brigade called for but did not arrive. Fire burnt out by 8.30pm.
Ambulances called, two arrived. First at 9.29pm, the second missed its way and arrived 10pm. Two casualties (bodies) loaded into each and sent from incident at 10.15pm.
Eddie Callaway's report scrupulously avoids naming Hazelbury (which, as a local person, he would have done) and puts the crash in the middle of nowhere. But the airshaft reference limits the place to only a couple of sites. The most likely one is number 6 shaft, the current site of Woodlands Adventurers Limited. The airshaft there was cleared some years ago and with it they removed any remains of the plane.
Ordnance Survey 1889 showing line of Box Tunnel and airshafts thereon
The Occupants
Dennis was recorded as Dennis Oswald Moss Pilot Officer (Air Bomber) RAFVR no 130874.[6] He was 30, the son of Dennis and Martha Moss of Morley and the husband of Ruth Moss (nee Briggs). He was buried in section B, Grave 1127 in Morley Cemetery.
Dennis was recorded as Dennis Oswald Moss Pilot Officer (Air Bomber) RAFVR no 130874.[6] He was 30, the son of Dennis and Martha Moss of Morley and the husband of Ruth Moss (nee Briggs). He was buried in section B, Grave 1127 in Morley Cemetery.
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The pilot was Flying Officer Graham Brayshaw (Pilot U/T Under Training) RAFVR (Royal Air Force Voluntary Reserve) no 118056. He was 25, son of George and Amy Brayshaw of Stainland. He was buried at the Methodist Chapel, Stainland, Yorkshire. Graham Brayshaw was a single man, who had lived with his parents before the war. He was a member of a well-known Stainland firm of worsted spinners and Dennis and he would have been business associates before the war.
The other occupants were:
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Dennis in happier times
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The Crash
The Vickers Wellington was operating from RAF Upper Hayford, near Bicester, Oxfordshire.
The Vickers Wellington was operating from RAF Upper Hayford, near Bicester, Oxfordshire.
Wellington Bomber (courtesy Wikipedia)
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Unit 16 OCU (Operational Conversion Unit earlier called OTU, meaning Operational Training Unit) was tasked with delivering night bombing training.
It should be noted that 1943 saw the peak of Bomber Command Operation sorties and casualties with the result that this placed considerable pressure on Operational Training Command to make up the losses. |
RAF Upper Heyford was the home of various units of Bomber Command during the Second World War. The training flight may have been in anticipation of the massive assault planned on the heartland of German production in the so-called Battle of the Ruhr starting March 1943. Flights were to be at night using Pathfinder guidance markers to direct the assaults because daytime losses on bombing missions had been too heavy.
The Vickers Wellington was designed for day bombing and was being sequentially withdrawn from RAF Bomber Command Operations and replaced by the Handley Page Halifax, Short Stirling and Avro Lancaster four-engined Heavy Bombers.
The Wellington was being introduced to RAF Training Command (from April 1942) in order to replace the Handley Page Hamden as the preferred bomber training platform.
The Vickers Wellington was designed for day bombing and was being sequentially withdrawn from RAF Bomber Command Operations and replaced by the Handley Page Halifax, Short Stirling and Avro Lancaster four-engined Heavy Bombers.
The Wellington was being introduced to RAF Training Command (from April 1942) in order to replace the Handley Page Hamden as the preferred bomber training platform.
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Conclusion
Contemporary newspaper reports of Dennis' flight state that his plane had engine failure.[7] Wellingtons were renowned to be very difficult to handle on only one engine. The crash was just one of many during World War 2. Several have been investigated subsequently but were little reported at the time with the government unwilling to declare any weakness of equipment.[8] There was another reason also. The crash was adjacent to a Box Tunnel airshaft and a news clamp-down was imposed on any accidents in the vicinity of the Tunnel, which was the entrance to the Central Ammunitions Depot, the largest underground depot in Europe at the time. |
Dennis and Ruth sharing their passion for time trials and rallies in their MG sports car, 1938
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Dennis Moss was buried at Morley Cemetery, Leeds after a memorial service at Queen Street Methodist Church, Morley. For years afterwards his family put an epitaph into local newspapers Today and always remembering Dennis Oswald Moss with love and pride. Per Ardua ad Astra. The epitaphs were signed by Mam and Dad, Biddy and Christopher Dennis.[9]
Ruth was 28 years old in 1943, caring for Christopher as a baby. She and Dennis were soul mates but as a single parent in the post-war years life was difficult. She married again in 1946. Christopher was brought up in a loving, caring home but always sought the father he scarcely knew. Below left, Christopher towards the end of 1942 dressed in his own RAF uniform. It was probably made from cloth produced in the Moss mill and made up by someone in Morley. Below right, seventy-five years later Christopher honoured his father's crash site in Box.
Ruth was 28 years old in 1943, caring for Christopher as a baby. She and Dennis were soul mates but as a single parent in the post-war years life was difficult. She married again in 1946. Christopher was brought up in a loving, caring home but always sought the father he scarcely knew. Below left, Christopher towards the end of 1942 dressed in his own RAF uniform. It was probably made from cloth produced in the Moss mill and made up by someone in Morley. Below right, seventy-five years later Christopher honoured his father's crash site in Box.
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We are grateful to Christopher and Denise for telling us about the tragedy of this accident and Box is delighted to have enabled them to commemorate their personal loss and that of the other occupants of the plane in the parish of Box. Thanks go to the many people who helped in the research and to Chris and Debby who allowed us to access to the Woodlands Adventurers site - www.woodlandavdventurers.org
Sources
Records in D/AHB (RAF) 8/27
www.theygavetheirtoday.com
www.findagrave.com
www.aviation archaeology.org.uk
www.gov.uk/veterans-uk
www.aircrashsites.co.uk
The National Archives personal logs and notes that can be accessed by relatives at File reference 'Air 32'
Records in D/AHB (RAF) 8/27
www.theygavetheirtoday.com
www.findagrave.com
www.aviation archaeology.org.uk
www.gov.uk/veterans-uk
www.aircrashsites.co.uk
The National Archives personal logs and notes that can be accessed by relatives at File reference 'Air 32'
Contact
Corsham and Chippenham Royal Air Force Association Branch can be contacted via chair.rafaccb@talktalk.net or go along to Royal British Legion meetings at Newlands Road Corsham on the 2nd Tuesday of month at 19.30.
References
[1] Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury, 25 November 1942
[2] The Yorkshire Post, 21 July 1938
[3] Courtesy Mr Lacroix
[4] Courtesy Mr Lacroix
[5] Courtesy Eric Callaway
[6] Research details courtesy http://www.theygavetheirtoday.com/raf-upper-heyford.html
[7] Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 3 March 1943
[8] See www.aircrashsites.co.uk
[9] Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury, 28 February 1944
Corsham and Chippenham Royal Air Force Association Branch can be contacted via chair.rafaccb@talktalk.net or go along to Royal British Legion meetings at Newlands Road Corsham on the 2nd Tuesday of month at 19.30.
References
[1] Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury, 25 November 1942
[2] The Yorkshire Post, 21 July 1938
[3] Courtesy Mr Lacroix
[4] Courtesy Mr Lacroix
[5] Courtesy Eric Callaway
[6] Research details courtesy http://www.theygavetheirtoday.com/raf-upper-heyford.html
[7] Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 3 March 1943
[8] See www.aircrashsites.co.uk
[9] Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury, 28 February 1944