Easterside: Where a German Bomber Crashed

Easterside Hill stands guard over Bilsdale, yet is all too often passed by without a second thought. Perhaps it is too familiar, or perhaps the eye is stolen by the graceful turns of the B1257.

Its striking form is no accident. A crown of Oolitic Limestone sits upon Calcareous Grit, itself resting on Oxford Clay. Over centuries, the softer mudstone shales have been carved away, leaving the hill’s steep and dramatic slopes.

Curiously, early man seems to have ignored it altogether. As far as has been discovered, the summit holds no prehistoric remains, only the scars of a later limestone quarry¹Limestone Quarry at Easterside Hill. NYMNPA HER Record No: 13074.. Easterside waits in silence until the 20th century before history finally records its name.

That call came on 17 December 1942. A German Dornier Do217, bound for York, swept low through Bilsdale. At 10:15 in the evening it struck a wall on the hillside at speed and shattered. Wreckage spread across the fields, the engines fell near Crow Nest, and its bombs had to be destroyed under controlled detonation²‘Aircraft Accidents on the North Yorkshire Moors’. 2024. Yorkshire-Aircraft.co.uk <https://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/planes/42/u5gr.html> [accessed 10 February 2024].

• 1
  Limestone Quarry at Easterside Hill. NYMNPA HER Record No: 13074.
• 2
  ‘Aircraft Accidents on the North Yorkshire Moors’. 2024. Yorkshire-Aircraft.co.uk <https://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/planes/42/u5gr.html> [accessed 10 February 2024]