HURRICANE Mk 1 - L1963

On Sunday 27^th October 1940, at 10.25 am a Hurricane Mk 1, L1963, from 43 Squadron did a vertical dive into the ground at Congburn Dene near Edmondsley, County Durham.  The pilot was Sergeant Leonard Vivian Toogood RAFVR, Service No 758096; he was just 20 years old.  There is a suspicion that he was doing aerobatics but there is no firm evidence to back it up.

 

The Squadron was based at RAF Usworth – the present site of the Nissan car factory and the North East Aircraft Museum.  They had recently arrived at Usworth, having taken part in the Battle of Britain and were only temporarily posted there whilst they awaited a posting to the Far East.

Sgt Toogood’s body was taken to Portsmouth and buried in Kingston Cemetery in that city.

Several reports incorrectly name the crash site as Cragburn Dene.

HURRICANE MK 1 IN CONSETT - Z7062

On 30th August 1941, a Mk 1 Hurricane, Z7062 from 232 Squadron flew out of RAF Ouston on an army co-operation flight to test the defences of Consett.  After several passes and mock attacks, the aircraft came in at very low level in a dummy attack on a machine gun position in Parliament Street and its starboard wing struck the sandbags protecting a gun emplacement and decapitated one of the soldiers of the defence force.  The aircraft then crashed into a wooden garage at the end of Parliament Street and caught fire, killing the pilot.

Tragically, 232 Squadron were just filling time as they waited to transfer out to the Far East.  The pilot was 23 year old Pilot Officer John Heron Wire RAFVR, Service No 66493.  He was buried in St Mary's churchyard at Stamfordham, Northumberland close to RAF Ouston.

This seems to be the crash in which another story claims that it was a Polish pilot and the soldiers wanted to shoot him to put him out of his misery because they could not get him out of the burning aircraft, but their superior officer would not allow it.