433 Squadron (RCAF) 6 Group Skipton-on-Swale:
Views of HQ building (Scroll down to see back view and newer view)
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This beautiful image of the Queen Mary's School, Baldersby Park, Thirsk was supplied by Neil Stanton,
and Stephen John Walls. Below, Cameron Clare Campbell in front of his old accommodations,
September, 1977. Photo courtesy Lloyd and Susan Campbell.
These two images are from the
Walter Henry Powell collection,
and were mistakenly identified as
Allerton Hall.
Through the dedicated efforts of
Susan Campbell, Neil Stanton, and Stephen
John Walls, the stately old buildings
have been identified as the former
Skellfield House, used by the RAF as
accommodations for Canadian troops while at
Topcliffe.
Cameron Clare Campbell states
in his journal, "At the completion of the course,
we made our way to Topcliffe which was a
Heavy Conversion Unit flying Halifax 4 engine
bombers. We were billeted five miles from the
station close to a sleepy little village of Topcliffe
in a stately although run down mansion that
formerly had been a girls college." Although the
mansion has clearly been renovated since, my Father
said the crew called it Skeleton House due to the dead
bodies of mice and rats found in the building.
Scroll down to see an image of Cameron Clare
Campbell in front of the school in 1977.
"Canadian soldiers are still blamed for damaging the
building's clock tower - they used to use the clock
and weathervane for target practice. Today the...
clock has just been mended. Staff at the school say
they are looking forward to welcoming a representative
from the Canadian forces to officially start the repaired
clock." www.queenmarys.org (As reported in