Second World War airmen's remains found in Chop Gate were removed from crash site, inquest hears

Remains of two airmen who crashed in North Yorkshire 76 years ago were removed from the site - an inquest was told.

RAF officer Alfred Robert William Milne and his navigator Eric Alan Stubbs, both 22, died during a top secret mission when their plane crash landed near Helmsley in 1944. 

However, despite both of them supposedly buried with full military honours, partial remains of the pair were found on a remote farm near Chop Gate by a family investigating a blocked septic tank in 2020. This was more than 12 miles away.

A huge investigation, involving police and the Ministry of Defence, was launched when the new owners of a nearby property found a human jawbone on their land and contacted police. Forensic archaeologists were able to identify the remains as male and more than half a century old.

Eric's relatives were later contacted by the military. But the investigation was swathed in secrecy and, at that point, they were told only that remains had been found. A man in his 70s was arrested in connection with the find of the remains, but was eventually released without charge.

Earlier this year, North Yorkshire Police revealed to the public the identities of the airmen found. And an inquest into their deaths took place this week.

The two Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve air crew were killed when their Mosquito aircraft crashed on the North York Moors near Bransdale, Helmsley.

Pilot Officer Milne and Warrant Officer Stubbs were on a training exercise from RAF Beccles in Suffolk to RAF Turnberry in Ayrshire.

Appletree Hurst Cottage, where the bones were found, was uninhabited, but had once been the home of Kenneth Ward, a collector of Second World War memorabilia.

The new owners of the adjoining farmhouse found the bones when they went into a paddock to inspect the septic tank.

The inquest heard the bones had been moved from the original crash site and had been exposed to the elements.

Coroner Richard Watson heard a witness had seen the engine spluttering before the crash. The bouncing bomb it was carrying did not detonate and was recovered by the RAF.

The coroner concluded a mechanical failure or fuel shortage had actually caused the crash and he recorded verdicts of accidental death for both men.

Mr Milne was born in London in 1921 and worked as a post officer sorter before enlisting in 1941. He was married, but without children. Mr Stubbs, born in Guildford in 1922, was unmarried and worked as a government clerk before the war.

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