Date:	Monday 30 November 1953
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 8
Owner/operator:	226 OCU RAF
Registration:	WA835
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Denham Street, 3 miles NW of Horham, Suffolk -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Honington, Suffolk
Destination airport:	RAF Honington, Suffolk
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.8, WA835, 226 OCU (Operational Conversion Unit), RAF: delivered 30/6/1950. Written off (damaged beyond repair) 19/9/1953 when collided with WE872, another Meteor F.Mk.8 of 226 OCU.

Meteor WA835 was the number two aircraft in a battle formation of four aircraft, carrying out a 90 degree cross turn at an altitude of 20,000 feet. While executing this turn, the formation of four Meteors encountered another formation of Meteors almost head on. Taking immediate avoiding action, Meteor WA835 collided with Meteor WE872, which was the number two aircraft in the other formation

Meteor WA835 rolled onto its back, and made an inverted dive toward the ground. As the pilot could not regain control of Meteor WA835, he then decided to bail out, and ejected through the canopy. He landed safely, but Meteor WA835 dived into the ground from 20,000 feet at Denham Street, 3 miles North-West of Horham, Suffolk

Crew of Meteor WA835
Pilot Officer W D Elford-Eggleton, RAF (pilot) - bailed out (ejected) survived, landed safely

The pilot not only survived this incident, but later rose to the rank of Squadron Leader. He died on 30/9/1985. The pilot of the other Meteor (WE872), piloted by Flight Lieutenant J N Thorn, survived the incident relatively undamaged; he managed to fly his aircraft back to RAF Honington for a normal landing. (Meteor WE872 survived to be transferred to Flight Refuelling Ltd on 28/10/1959 for conversion to a Meteor U16, as part of the drone program

The reported crash location of Denham Street, three miles north-west of Horham, a village in the county of Suffolk, in the East Anglia region of eastern England, United Kingdom, at approximate co ordinates: 52'3141" North,1'195" West

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.152 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 432
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
4. 226 OCU ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/1/1951 to 31/5/1955: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/2165/1 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7162873
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WA
6. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/50394/page/415/data.pdf
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horham

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-May-2008 14:30	JINX	Added
06-Jun-2008 22:04	JINX	Updated
12-May-2015 17:17	BlB	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
23-May-2021 19:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
23-May-2021 19:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Destination airport, Narrative]
24-May-2021 20:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]