Date:	Monday 8 July 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Handley Page Halifax C Mk 8
Owner/operator:	297 Sqn RAF
Registration:	NA461
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Tarrant Rushton, Dorset, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Tarrant Rushton, Dorset
Destination airport:	RAF Tarrant Rushton, Dorset

Narrative:
Handley Page Halifax NA461. 297 Squadron, RAF: Crashed on 8 July 1946, shortly after liftoff from RAF Tarrant Rushton, Dorset. The pilot attempted to take off at too low an airspeed, and closed the throttles when a swing off the runway developed during the take-off run. The pilot then opened the throttles again, but the swing worsened, a wing dropped, the aircraft crashed, and was destroyed by fire. The aircraft was destroyed and all six crew members were killed. They were involved in a local training sortie.

Causes: It appears the rotation was initiated prematurely, at low speed. Immediately after takeoff, the Pilot in Command reduced the engine power, causing the aircraft to stall due to an insufficient speed.

Crew of Halifax NA461
*Flight Sergeant (Wireless Operator) Cameron Rockcliffe Grant, Service Number 2209386. Buried St, Mary's Cemetery, Windemere, Cumberland
*Flight Sergeant (Air Bomber) Frederick William Nash, Service Number 1809452. Buried Haycombe Cemetery, Bath, Somerset
*Flying Officer (Pilot) Peter James Crabtree, Service Number 197216. Buried Quinton Cemetery, Warley, Birmingham
*Flying Officer (Air Bomber) Eric Elston Smith, Service Number 166224. Buried Garforth Cemetery, Leeds, West Yorkshire
*Warrant Officer (Navigator) John Gilles Cockburn, Service Number 591939. Buried Comley Bank Cemetery, Edinburgh, Lothian
*Flight Sergeant (Flight Engineer) John Robert Jones, Service Number 3025712. Buried Ebbw Vale Cemetery, Monmouthshire, Wales

297 squadron was reformed in a peacetime role on 1 April 1946 at RAF Tarrant Rushton and merged with 295 squadron, keeping the 297 Squadron markings. The reformed squadron kept the Halifax A.7 aircraft and moved to RAF Brize Norton on 5 September 1946. In January 1947 the squadron was re-equipped with Halifax A.9 aircraft which they kept until October 1948, during this time they moved to RAF Station Fairford on 21 August 1947 and to RAF Dishforth on 1 November 1948.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.46. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.180
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft NA100-NZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.101: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
5. 297 Sqn RAF ORB for the period 1-4-1946 to 30-11-1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/2493/3: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8422592
6. http://dorset.hampshireairfields.co.uk/dorcrash.html
7. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-handley-page-hp70-halifax-viii-tarrant-rushton-6-killed
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2696087/grant,-cameron-rockcliffe/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2691701/nash,-reginald-william/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2408035/smith,-eric-elston/
11. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2451727/cockburn,-john-gillies/
12. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2448036/jones,-john-robert/
13. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2711985/crabtree,-peter-james/
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._297_Squadron_RAF#Post-war
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Tarrant_Rushton

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
07-Mar-2017 21:30	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
07-Mar-2017 21:47	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
23-Dec-2017 19:23	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
13-Nov-2018 06:58	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
27-Oct-2019 21:59	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Source, Narrative]
23-Nov-2019 00:12	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
02-Aug-2021 15:36	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, Category]
18-Jun-2023 18:42	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Source, Narrative, Category]]