Date:	Sunday 30 December 1951
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5
Owner/operator:	72 Sqn RAF
Registration:	VV539
MSN:	EEP/42...
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Purleigh, Dengie peninsula, 4 miles south of Maldon, Essex -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF North Weald, Essex
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB.Mk.5 VV539, 72 Squadron, RAF: delivered 29/12/1948. Written off 30/12/1951, when the aircraft collided with another DeHavilland Vampire FB.5 (WA361, flown by Pilot Officer Taylor) also of 72 Squadron, RAF, over Purleigh, Essex. Vampire VV539 was wrecked when it dived into the ground, but the pilot - Flight Sergeant Denys Mobbeley - bailed out and survived.

The reported crash location of Purleigh is a village on the Dengie peninsula about 4 miles south of Maldon in the English county of Essex. Vampire WA361 (the other Vampire involved) did a wheels up landing back at RAF North Weald. Pilot Officer Taylor belly landed his Vampire at North Weald; the aircraft was stripped of his wings and grounded.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.123 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 208
3. 72 squadron ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/3/1951 to 31/5/1954: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2628/41 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8439880
4. The Times, London, December 31 1951
5. https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/124593-72-sqn-vampire-mid-air-collision
6. http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/RAF-pilot-lucky-charm-thank-escape/story-15039420-detail/story.html
7. http://72squadronassociation.webs.com/sqnhistoryarticles.htm
8. https://www.key.aero/comment/1550550#comment-1550550
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purleigh

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
18-Feb-2021 18:23	Dr. John Smith	Added
18-Feb-2021 19:45	Don Diego	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]