Date:	Tuesday 30 December 1941
Time:	15:50
Type:	Miles Master Mk I
Owner/operator:	55 OTU RAF
Registration:	N8076
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:	2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Ford Estate, Hylton Road, Sunderland, County Durham, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Usworth, Sunderland, County Durham
Destination airport:

Narrative:
On 30 December 1941, two Miles Master Mk.Is, T8567 and N8076, of 55 OTU RAF took off from RAF Usworth respectively at 14:30 and 15:05 hours. Instructions were given to both Pilots by Flt Sgt Goode to land at home base after half an hour flying and exchange seats, with one occupant to act as safety Pilot while the other was under the hood. Special attention was drawn to the prevailing weather.

Both aircraft collided at 15:50 hours over the Ford Housing Estate, off Hylton Road, near Sunderland, County Durham and crashed into the gardens of two different houses. All on board being killed. A Flying accident report later stated : “The cause of the accident was due to the fact that the Pilot or Pilots failed to maintain sufficient look out while flying in the vicinity of the drome".

Crew of T8567 (both killed):
RCAF J/8814 P/O Arthur Raymond Kirby (Pilot)
RAAF 407758 Sgt Leonard Douglas Wright (Pilot, aged 22)

Crew of N8076 (both killed):
RAAF 407454 Sgt Peter Morphett Piggott (Pilot, aged 21)
RAAF 14227 Sgt William Gilbert Bothe (Pilot, aged 23)

By great fortune no one on the ground was even injured as one aircraft crashed into a street and the other crashed into the garden of a house

All the four members are buried in the Hylton (Castletown) Cemetery, UK. The Hylton parish is 3 miles west of Sunderland.

1. The Mail (Adelaide, SA) Saturday 10 January 1942 Page 2: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55771043
2. https://www.nelsam.org.uk/NEAR/Losses/Losses-WWII1941.htm
3. https://aviationmuseumwa.org.au/afcraaf-roll/wright-leonard-douglas-407758/
4. http://www.rafcommands.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=9118&forum=DCForumID6
5. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10318158
6. https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/620567
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2838452/arthur-raymond-kirby/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2838468/leonard-douglas-wright/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2838460/peter-morphett-piggott/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2838440/william-gilbert-bothe/
11. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2838452
12. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/11279: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C17059008
13. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10321166
14. https://www.twgpp.org/photograph/view/1301190
15. https://www.lostancestors.eu/wargraves/australian/australian02.htm
16. https://ww2austburialsuk.weebly.com/hylton.html
17. https://m.facebook.com/88014372638/photos/10158543030762639/
18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Estate

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-Dec-2018 15:55	Laurent Rizzotti	Added