On the day of 20th February 1947 Halifax RT922 took off with 7 crew and 2 reporters on board, in an attempt to make a food drop to the village of Grindon in the Staffordshire Moorlands. The following is taken directly from the book "A Moorlands Dedication" by Marshall S. Boylan. "The winter of 1946/7 was particularly bad, cutting off many moorland farms and villages, through heavy snowfalls. Longnor and Grindon were affected and having been cut off for some time, food supplies were beginning to dwindle. It had been decided to parachute food to the stranded villages and Halifax bombers based at Fairford were assigned the task. After a survey flight, the RAF confirmed that a drop was feasible, despite the hilly terrain, provided the minimum height could be no lower than 1000’. A successful drop of 2000lb of foodstuffs then followed at Longnor and plans were made for the Grindon drop. On the appointed day, this Halifax took off and headed towards North Staffordshire. The villagers, in the meantime, had marked out a black cross in the snow, using soot, to designate the drop zone. Upon arrival, Sq/L McIntyre found the area covered in thick cloud and flew around the area for some time to establish where the drop zone was. Having located the area, the aircraft then made two dummy runs, turned and prepared to make the drop on the next run. The cloud base was only 100’, well below the safety height of 1000’, and it must be said that it would be very difficult when flying an aircraft in these conditions, over a snow covered landscape, to determine ones height. The horizon would be almost non existent, cloud and landscape merging into one. On the third run, the aircraft approached very low and was seen to bank to port, the wingtip caught the ground and the aircraft cart-wheeled in, exploding in a mass of flames and scattering debris over a wide area. The horrified villagers mounted a rescue operation, but only found the occupant of the rear turret still alive, the remainder of those on board having been killed on impact. Unfortunately, he died shortly afterwards. The other aircraft standing by at Fairford, were stood down, following news of the tragedy. The sad irony of this is that the road to Leek was opened the next day and supplies would start to arrive. Macclesfield Historical Aviation Society were instrumental in the presentation of a No. 47 Squadron plaque to the villagers of Grindon, at a Memorial Service held there to mark the 40th anniversary of the tragedy, in April 1987. The service was conducted by the Bishop of Lichfield and attended by members of No. 47 Squadron." On board were the following: Crew : Sq/L D. McINTYRE : F/O G.V. CHAPMAN : F/O R.S. KEARNS : F/Lt E. SMITH : F/Sgt W. SHERRY : F/Sgt E. SMITH Press photographers J. REARDON on board D.W. SAVILL Afraid I have no other grave photos from Buxton cemetery, i have still to sort them through in order to locate them all. Yesterday a service of remembrance as held at Grindon church, part of the congregation were RAF representatives who then laid wreaths at the memorial on Grindon Moor. Members of the ATC and British Legion were also in attendance. Last years Service images 2007 Remembrance Service Grindon Church
