Date:	Tuesday 29 January 1946
Time:	14:30 LT
Type:	Hawker Tempest Mk V
Owner/operator:	56 OTU RAF
Registration:	EJ859
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Felkington Farm, Felkington, Grievestead Moor, Duddo, Northumberland -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Millfield, Northumberland
Destination airport:	RAF Millfield, Northumberland
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Hawker Tempest EJ859 was a Mark V variant manufactured by Hawkers Langley under contract 1876 with a Sabre IIa engine number 505852 installed. The aircraft never served with a front-line unit and arrived new from 20 Maintenance Unit RAF Aston Down on 14/02/45 at 56 OTU (Operational Training Unit), RAF Millfield in Northumberland. Nothing else is listed for this aircraft until the crash on 29/01/46 where it was subsequently listed as a category E and struck off charge.

At around 14:00 hrs on 29/01/46 F/Lt Vincent Parker took off from RAF Millfield on a “Camera Exercise”. At approximately 14:30 at 6,000 feet, commencing a slow roll, Flight Lieutenant Parker whilst inverted, dropped the nose of his aircraft and descended in a slow spin. At approximately 100 feet, the aircraft was partially recovered, but the aircraft crashed through a tree before impacting with the ground at Felkington Farm, Felkington, Grievestead Moor, Duddo, Northumberland.

Pilot:
Flt/Lt (42356) Vincent "Bushy" PARKER, RAFVR (pilot, aged 27) - killed in service 29-1-46, buried at Stonefall Cemetery, Harrogate, Yorkshire

In a cruel twist of irony, Flt/Lt Parker was killed after having survived as a prisoner of war since 16th August 1940. He remained, despite multiple escape attempts, in a succession of German POW camps (including the infamous Colditz Castle; he was Court Martialled in Oflag IV C for stealing German food) until its liberation at the end of hostilities (8th May 1945). Returning to England in June 1945, his post-war, peacetime life (seven months) had been shorter than his life in captivity (five years).

Duddo is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, about 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Berwick-upon-Tweed.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.27. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.49
3. The Colditz Conjurer: The amazing true story of Vincent 'Bush' Parker, Battle of Britain pilot and prisoner of war magician by James Green
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Parker#Death
5. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/12832.php
6. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2624000/parker,-vincent/
7. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13053971/vincent-parker
7. https://www.nelsam.org.uk/NEAR/Losses/Losses-PostWWII.htm
9. https://aviationtrails.wordpress.com/2017/12/03/raf-milfield-arguably-one-of-britains-most-significant-airfields/
10. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/awards/details.php?qname=PARKER&qnum=42356
11. 56 OTU ORB (Operations Record Book) for the period 1-1-1939 to 28-2-1946: National Archives (PRO Kew) file AIR 29/683/1 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7161029
12. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.103: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
13. https://www.facebook.com/groups/754427714964136/posts/1339325286474373/
14. http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/did-not-seem-fair-what-do-you-think.19715/
15. https://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/5628/Vincent-bushy-parker-park-factsheet.pdf
16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duddo

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Feb-2014 19:36	angels one five	Added
12-Feb-2014 19:38	angels one five	Updated [Other fatalities, Narrative]
24-Jan-2015 23:29	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
24-Feb-2015 05:39	angels one five	Updated [Narrative]
17-Apr-2015 18:31	Mihulka33	Updated [Operator, Narrative]
15-Dec-2015 21:00	helen	Updated [Source]
09-Aug-2019 05:04	angels one five	Updated [Narrative]
03-Nov-2019 22:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
05-Nov-2019 08:53	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Narrative, Operator]
30-Apr-2021 02:27	angels one five	Updated [Phase, Narrative]
05-Jun-2021 20:49	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
05-Jun-2021 20:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
05-Jun-2021 21:02	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
23-Jun-2021 22:07	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
21-Jul-2023 17:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Source]]