Date:	Monday 10 November 1947
Time:	03:00 LT
Type:	Vickers Wellington Mk X
Owner/operator:	1 PRFU RAF
Registration:	MF557
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Beech Hill Railway Crossing, 10 miles from Doncaster, South Yorkshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	RAF Finningley, Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Destination airport:	RAF Finningley, Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Vickers Wellington Mk. X MF557, 1 PRFU, RAF: Written off (destroyed) 10 November 1947, when crashed at Railway Crossing House, Beech Hill Railway Crossing, 10 miles from Doncaster, South Yorkshire.

According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Western Daily Press" of November 12th 1947):

"Shortly before midnight on Monday, a Wellington bomber attached to Finningley R.A.F. Station, near Doncaster, crashed at Beech Hill railway crossing, 10 miles from Doncaster. The pilot, Sgt. Cyril Wallace (23), or Ellerker Avenue, Doncaster, was killed and the navigator, Raymond M. Gilroy (28), of Peterborough and the wireless operator, Geoffrey F. Morgan (21), of Southport, were injured".

A simultaneous failure of both engines during an attempted landing at RAF Finningley resulted in aircraft crashing and burning, killing the pilot and severely injuring the remaining two crew. The plane was on a cross country navigation exercise. On hitting the ground, the aircraft hit an embankment located near a railway, sheared off some road signs and came to rest in flames.

The two survivors were wireless operator Sgt Geoffrey Morgan, and the Navigator, Sgt Raymond Gilroy. Sgt. Gilroy, 26, from Peterborough, was responsible for saving the life of Sgt Morgan by pulling him out of the aircraft through the Astrodome. The sole fatality was the pilot, Flight Sergeant Cyril Wallace RAFVR (Service Number 1626022, aged 23); he was interred in Doncaster (Rose Hill) Cemetery. His home address was Hexthorpe, near Doncaster. Death registered in East Retford.

The injured men were taken to Doncaster Royal Infirmary. A Verdict of Accidental Death was returned at the inquest on Flt-Sgt Wallace. Sgt Gilroy was commended for rescuing Sgt Morgan, who had been knocked out, but he was unable to reach Flt Sgt Wallace as the aircraft by then was a raging inferno. Wing-Commander Edmund Goldsmith, Chief Flying Instructor at the Pilot Refresher Flying School, Finningley, said no blame could be attached to Flt Sgt Wallace. The cause was put as ''fuel starvation'' to both engines.

AC.2 Flynn was one of several RAF Regiment airmen from RAF Finningley who guarded the wreckage and helped to take the residents of the railway crossing house to the RAF station, as the Wellington had removed part of the roof of the house as it came down.

It is believed that the dual engine failure was caused by a momentarily jam on the fuel transfer system.

1. Sgt Geoffrey Frederick Morgan, aged 21, of Southport, Merseyside.
2. Yorkshire Post November 12th 1947 (crash report) and December 10th 1947 (inquest hearing).
3. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.69. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
4. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.349
5. Western Daily Press" of November 12th 1947
6. https://doncasterwarmemorials.weebly.com/w.html
7. http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/f/finningley/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2407669/wallace,-cyril/
9. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-vickers-440-wellington-x-raf-finningley-1-killed
10. https://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?24952-471110-Unaccounted-Airmen-10-11-1947&highlight=WALLACE&p=144523#post144523
11. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59789490/cyril-wallace

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
01-Nov-2008 13:40	bev833	Updated
12-Dec-2008 02:28	bev833	Updated
05-Jan-2009 12:18	harro	Updated
16-Feb-2009 11:56	bev833	Updated
18-May-2011 14:01	relight9	Updated [Narrative]
13-Oct-2012 12:21	BEV833	Updated [Narrative]
25-Apr-2017 20:06	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source]
25-Apr-2017 20:26	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative]
19-Nov-2018 18:32	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Operator]
29-Nov-2019 01:04	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Source, Narrative]
29-Nov-2019 01:06	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Narrative]
29-Nov-2019 22:23	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator]
21-Aug-2022 07:27	Paul Allonby	Updated [Source, Narrative]
06-May-2023 20:54	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Source, Narrative]]
07-May-2023 17:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[Source, Narrative]]]