Handley Page Halifax DX185 Memorial

On the 31st January 1944 the Handley Page Halifax Bomber DX185 took off on a routine, night navigation training flight from RAF Dishforth in North Yorkshire. Sadly, it never returned to base, as at around 5.30pm the aircraft struck the high ground of Addingham Moor, killing all seven young airmen on board.

DX185 was part of the 1664 Heavy Conversion Unit, stationed at RAF Dishforth, who were responsible for training aircrews to operate heavy bombers before being sent into combat. The crews were made up of young men from within the Commonwealth nations and would often be multinational.

The conditions on the night were very poor, with thick cloud, mist and ice covering the moors making navigation difficult. The crew were apparently disorientated and found themselves 40 miles off course. They descended through the cloud in order to try and find some visible landmarks and hit the high ground of the moor.

For decades after the war the crash site was marked only by the scar on the landscape, where wreckage would occasionally re-surface, until John Reilly MBE, a friend of one of the killed airmen, set about trying to find the exact location of the crash and create a lasting memorial. Through meticulous research, even tracing the local schoolboy who was first on the scene of the crash, he managed to pinpoint the crash site and contact the family of all but one of the crew members.

Finally in January of 2006, almost 62 years after the crash, the memorial was dedicated. It was designed by artist John Webber and is a simple, stone plinth standing around 1m in height. On it there is a brass plaque with the names of each of the crew members. It reads;

'In memory of the crew of the Handley Page Halifax DK185, 1664 (Caribou) Heavy Conversion Unit, RAF Dishforth, who lost their lives when their aircraft crashed here, 1730hrs, 31 January 1944.

Pilot Officer Donald George McLeod RCAF aged 21 (Pilot) of Waterford, Ontario Sgt.

Felix Byrne RAF aged 20 (Flight Engineer) of Plains, Lanarkshire

W/OII Lewis Riggs RCAF aged 20 (Navigator) OF Toronto, Ontario

Sgt. Robert Henry Rahn RCAF aged 22 (Air Bombardier) of Waterloo, Ontario

W/OI William George King RCAF aged 27 (Wireless Op/Air Gunner) of Teeper Creek, Alberta

Sgt George Martin RCAF aged 20 (Air Gunner) of Spanish, Ontario

Sgt Albert Lorne Mullen RCAF aged 19 (Air Gunner) of Burnaby, British Columbia

“When you go home, tell them of us and say, for their tomorrow we gave our today”

Think of them when you pass by and admire the view that was their last.

Erected in their honour by Felix's good friend John Reilly MBE.'