Date:	Thursday 1 August 1946
Time:	night
Type:	Airspeed Oxford
Owner/operator:	21 (P) AFU RAF
Registration:	LW788
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Huddlesford, near RAF Lichfield, Staffordshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Wheaton Aston, Staffordshire
Destination airport:	RAF Wheaton Aston, Staffordshire

Narrative:
On 1 August 1946, Airspeed Oxford LW788 of 21 (P) AFU, RAF was on a night cross country navigation exercise from Wheaton Aston when it suffered a failure of the port propeller, and crashed out of control at Huddlesford, near Lichfield, Staffordshire. The pilot was killed and the aircraft was destroyed.
Crew:
W/O (1562449) Matthew Hamilton ORR (pilot) RAFVR was killed as were 7 sheep in the field where the aircraft crashed.

Cause: It appears that the loss of control was caused by the loss of a propeller blade on the port engine, due to a fracture of the propellor blade root. The severe vibrations caused the port engine to be displaced in its mounting, and the pilot was unable to maintain control of the aircraft. The reported crash location of Huddlesford is a village 2 km east of Lichfield, Staffordshire, at approximate co-ordinates: 52.6844°N, 1.7766°W.

Note that the official Air Ministry/RAF Board of Inquiry into the incident (AVIA 5/28/W2359) (see link #8) lists the aircraft as "LW718" [sic]. The "real" LW718 was a Handley Page Halifax which crashed in Norfolk on 24 March 1944.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.47. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. The Oxford, Consul & Envoy File (John F Hamlin, Air Britain, 2001 p 168)
3. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.193
4. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.101: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
5. http://www.aviationarchaeology.org.uk/marg/nwcrashes1945-52.htm
6. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/28/W2359: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578205
7. 21 (P) AFU RAF ORB for the period 1-7-1943 to 31-7-1947; National Archives (PRO Kew) AIR29/549/4: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7160833
8. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-airspeed-as10-oxford-i-huddlesford-1-killed
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2456281/orr,-matthew-hamilton/
10. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/156527162/matthew-hamilton-orr
11. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=34280
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._215_Advanced_Flying_School_RAF
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Wheaton_Aston#History
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huddlesford

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
09-Jul-2017 00:04	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
09-Jul-2017 00:05	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
30-Jul-2017 21:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
23-Dec-2017 19:24	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Location]
15-Nov-2019 23:15	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
23-Nov-2019 00:58	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
27-Nov-2019 11:47	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator]
11-Jul-2023 08:52	Nepa	Updated [[Operator, Destination airport, Operator]]