Date:	Wednesday 20 August 1952
Time:	night
Type:	English Electric Canberra B.2
Owner/operator:	231 OCU RAF
Registration:	WE116
MSN:	71079
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	1 mile north of Therfield, Hertfordshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
EE Canberra B.Mk.2 WE116, 231 OCU RAF: delivered 4/6/1952. Written off 20/8/1952 when flew into the ground and then some trees after returning from a night NAVEX (navigation exercise) and exploded on impact, one mile North of Therfield, Hertfordshire. All three crew killed.

Crew of Canberra WE116:
Pilot Officer John Howard Vincent (pilot) RAF - killed
Pilot Officer (2507864) Peter Tinley (Cadet Navigator) RAF - killed
Pilot Officer John Leonard Edmiston (Sernior Navgiator) RAF - killed

Therfield is both a small village of approximately 4,761 acres (19 km²) and a civil parish (originally in Odsey Hundred and Royston Union) which sits upon the chalk range, three miles southwest of Royston, and six miles (10 km) northeast of Baldock and within the English county of Hertfordshire.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.133 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.283
4. 231 OCU ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/12/1951 to 31/8/1952: National Archives (PRO Kew) file AIR 29/2173 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101883
5. http://salhs.org.uk/folders/canberra/page2.html
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therfield
7. https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/17023
8. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?17202-231-OCU-Accidents-Bassingbourn&highlight=HOWARD&p=101011#post101011
9. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WE

Memorial Plaque to the pilot of Canberra WE116, North aisle, Eastbourne College Chapel, Old Wish Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex PO J H Vincent RAF And 2Lt D M Hockridge Altar © John Miller (WMR-17023)

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
03-Jun-2008 23:09	JINX	Added
03-Apr-2013 23:31	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
22-Sep-2016 16:36	Robbo	Updated [Narrative]
12-Nov-2018 21:22	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
12-Mar-2021 19:11	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
20-Mar-2021 16:46	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
20-Mar-2021 16:49	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
20-Mar-2021 21:18	Robbo	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]