HALLIFAX Noel Dan

Noel Hallifax was born in 1918. He attended Malvern College in House 1 from 1932 to 1936.

Noel Hallifax was the youngest son of Edwin Richard, CMG, CBE and Eveline Hallifax. After officer training at Cranwell he was granted a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force on 17th December 1938. On 15th May 1940 he was shot down near Zeebrugge while on patrol in Hurricane N2422. He survived the crash but was captured and became a prisoner of war. It appears that he received burns from the crash to his hands, legs and face as he was treated by German medics in Frankfurt and later at a hospital at Halle Saale. Little is known of his years as a PoW other than the fact that he was sent to Colditz Castle on 14th November 1942 where he remained until his release on 7th January 1945. Repatriated to England by 16th February 1945, Noel was immediately admitted to East Grinstead Hospital for further treatment for his injuries. He continued his career with the RAF rising to the rank of Squadron Leader on 1st October 1946.

On 8th November 1946 Noel was the pilot of Mosquito NT266; also on board was navigator, Flying Officer Edward Chater aged 21. The pair were on a daylight training flight from RAF Leeming, Yorkshire, taking off at around 11.00 hours. Flying across the North Yorkshire moors the aircraft entered thick cloud and was next seen appearing at high speed from the cloud at a steep angle. The aircraft hit the ground on Pockley Moor and exploded on impact leaving a deep crater. It is strongly suspected that ice had formed on the wings of the aircraft whilst it was in the dense cloud resulting in the pilot being unable to control the aircraft.

Source for additional information:
http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/planes/46-50/nt266.html