A group of pilots pose with their dog Joe in front of a Defiant Mk. I at RAF Driffield, East Riding, in September 1942. Shortly after the photograph was taken, the aircrafts pilot, Warrant Officer Derek F.P. Jannings (2nd from right) was killed in a crash on 15 September 1942 when the crew were carrying out a fighter affiliation and a gunnery exercise to train No. 4 Group air gunners. Towards the end of the training Jannings tried to lower the undercarriage with the assumption being made that they were nearing base and would have been going into land to conclude the training flight. The undercarriage failed to deploy properly and the pilot was aware of this, deciding to fly off again to try and free the undercarriage rather than risk a belly landing or landing on one main wheel. The aircraft then left the area of Driffield and headed north roughly towards the Scarborough area. Jannings attempted a series of violent manoeuvres in an attempt to shake the problem clear and make the landing gear come down and lock into place. The aircraft had by now flown over higher ground, while the south-eastern side of the North Yorkshire Moors was mainly cultivated farmland it also had. Whilst attempting to shake the undercarriage down over numerous wooded hillsides around the locality Jannings lost control and fearing a crash he ordered the air gunner, Sergeant Alec C. Walters, to bail out, soon after the aircraft dived into the ground near the hamlet of Suffield at 11.37 hrs. While Jannings was killed in the resulting crash, Walters landed safely.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 06:11:13 +0000
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