Date:	Friday 5 October 1945
Time:	12:45
Type:	Consolidated B-24J Liberator GR Mk VI
Owner/operator:	311 Sqn RAF
Registration:	KG867
MSN:	963
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 23 / Occupants: 23
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Elvetham, 2 km east of Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Passenger
Departure airport:	RAF Blackbushe, Hampshire (EGLK)
Destination airport:	Ruzyně Airport/ Praha ČSR

Narrative:
Consolidated B-24J Liberator GR Mk VI KG867 (PP-N) of 311 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) 5 October 1945 when crashed at Elvetham, 2 km east of Hartley Wintney, Hampshire. All 23 on board (18 passengers and 5 crew) killed.

During take-off, a petrol pipe feeding the port inner engine ruptured and fuel ignited in the engine nacelle. It seems probable that the co-pilot operated the wrong fire extinguisher but at this critical stage of flight, the pilot was unable to control the aircraft and, although it became airborne, it crashed out of control and was gutted by fire. Checks after the accident revealed that the aircraft had been very poorly maintained with little attention to the daily maintenance and servicing requirements.

The passengers were all Czech civilians being flown home to Prague, having agreed to repatriation at the war's end. They included five very young children and the wife of the flight engineer, a 19 year old Czech woman, Edita Sedláková (née Hermannová), who was a WAAF LACW attached to 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron. She was not included in the aircraft's passenger manifest and was probably smuggled aboard by the crew.
Crew:
P/O Jaroslav KUDLÁČEK (pilot) RAFVR - killed
W/O Antonin BROŽ (Co-pilot) RAFVR - killed
P/O Karel RYBNÍČEK (nav.) RAFVR - killed
F/Sgt Zdenak SEDLÁK (Flight Engineer) RAFVR - killed
F/O Bohumil VAVERKA (Wop) RAFVR - killed
Passengers: killed
Eva ŠAFRÁNKOVÁ 6
Jiří ROSENBLUM 2
Marene SOBESLAVSKA 1
Margite SOBESLAVSKY 30
Marta OBRAZOVA 37
Otto TRINKS 37
Marina PAULING 46
Michal RICHTER 40
Ruzena LICHTENSTEINOVA 25
Antonie SAFRONKOVA 33
Otto SCHWARZ 45
LACW Editha SEDLÁKOVÁ 19
Irma TRINKSOVA 28
Vladislav SOBESLAVSKY 1
Helena WODAKOVA 24
Helena ZALUD 2
Margaret SOBESLAVSKY ZAULD 27

On 11 October 1945, 18 of the victims of the crash were buried at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey. All five of the aircrew were laid to rest in the Czechoslovak section of Brookwood Military Cemetery. 13 of the passengers share a common grave in part of the civilian cemetery in Long Avenue called the Old Roman Catholic Ground. The common grave has one headstone bearing the names of those 13 passengers, including stowaway Edita Sedláková. A separate, smaller plaque commemorating Sedláková's RAF service was added in front of the monument in November 2015.

Five of the passengers are not buried in the shared grave at Brookwood. They are Marta Obrazová, Jiři Rosenblum, Anna Rosenblumová, Otto Schwarz and Helena Wodaková.

B-24J-40-CF Liberator GR.Mk.VI was built by Consolidated Aircraft for the USAAF as 44-10372, and diverted to the RAF as KG867

1. Vančata, Pavel (2013). 311 Squadron. Sandomierz: Stratus, for Mushroom Model Publications. pp. 82–83. ISBN 978-83-61421-43-6. PDF version at https://www.eduard.com/out/media/2123-Riders_in_the_Sky1945-ENG.pdf
2. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. pp. 7–24. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
3. "Passenger 'Plane Crashes in Hampshire: 23 Killed". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 6 October 1945.
4. "Crash in Hampshire" (The Times, Monday 8 October 1945)
5. "Mystery of 23rd body in blazing 'plane wreck" (The Scotsman, Monday 8 October 1945)
6. "Girl wife gave life for love" (The People), Sunday 7 October 1945
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvetham_air_crash
8. https://fcafa.com/2011/08/04/blackbushe-5-october-1945/comment-page-1/
9. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-consolidated-b-24j-liberator-vi-blackbushe-23-killed
10. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_1.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
31-Jan-2010 10:28	RICARDO	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Phase, Nature, Source, Narrative]
22-Jan-2011 02:22	Anon.	Updated [Source]
13-Nov-2011 05:59	Nepa	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
05-Jan-2012 07:04	Uli Elch	Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
27-Jan-2012 13:51	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Source]
29-May-2015 06:29	Jixon	Updated [Aircraft type, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
04-Oct-2017 07:23	Hugh Jaeger	Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Source, Narrative]
04-Oct-2017 07:23	harro	Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Source]
21-Oct-2019 15:46	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
27-Oct-2019 22:03	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
23-Nov-2020 19:07	Anon.	Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative, Operator]