Date:	Tuesday 5 July 1949
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	15 RFS RAF
Registration:	N6644
MSN:	3948
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near RAF Manston, 1mile north west of Ramsgate, Kent, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Manston, Kent
Destination airport:	RAF Manston, Kent

Narrative:
de Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth MSN 3948 (Gipsy Major #80879); Taken on charge as N6644 at 10 MU RAF Hullavington, Wiltshire 16.3.39. To 11 E&RFTS RAF Perth/Scone 2.8.39. Unit renamed 11 EFTS upon outbreak of was 4.9.39. To Southern Aircraft, Gatwick for repairs 29.2.41. To 20 EFTS RAF Yeadon, West Yorkshire 16.7.41. To 3 EFTS RAF Shellingford 12.12.41. To 38 MU RAF Llandow, Glamorgan 27.7.45. To 15 RFS RAF Redhill, Surrey 11.1.49; coded "RCD-N".

Written off (destroyed) when stalled on approach at RAF Manston 05/07/1949. Of the two crew one - ATC Corporal Raymond C Webster (passenger on an "Air Experience" flight) - was killed, and the pilot - Pilot II Michael Forster (pilot) RAFVR- was injured. One source ("A Detailed History of RAF Manston 1945-1999 By Joe Bamford - see link #3) sates that the cause of the accident was that "the pilot lost control after entering a steep turn at 200 feet, allowing the Tiger Moth to dive into the ground"

Aircraft came down in a field between Manston village and RAF Manston itself. According to a contemporary local newspaper report ("Thanet Advertiser" - Friday 8 July 1949

"Death Crash at Manston Village
PILOT DRAGGED FROM BLAZING PLANE
A.T.C. CADET KILLED

LESS THAN 50 YARDS FROM COTTAGES AT MANSTON VILLAGE, TUESDAY AFTERNOON, A SMALL R.A.F. PLANE CRASHED IN A FARM FIELD AND BURNT OUT WITHIN A FEW MINUTES.

Farm workers rushed to the scene and, in spite of the flames, they made heroic attempts to rescue the two occupants. They succeeded in dragging the pilot away from the machine, but the fire foiled their efforts to reach a young A.T.C. cadet whose body was later recovered from the plane.

The dead cadet was Raymond Charles Webster, aged 16 years 11 months, a motor mechanic, whose home is it 132 Lillington-street, Westminster, London, S.W.1. The pilot of the aircraft, who is now lying seriously injured in Ramsgate General Hospital, is Pilot II Michael Forster, aged 26, of the R.A.F. Volunteer Reserve, who lives at Beckenham, Kent.

It appears that the plane, a Tiger Moth training aircraft, got into difficulties and was turning at tree-top height when it suddenly crashed into the ground, striking a corner of a rhubarb field.

The farm workers reached the scene within a few moments, one of them arriving on a tractor. Rescuers included Messrs. Bob Roberts, Alan Impett, Fred Davis, William Stanley, Peter William Prickett and his 21-year-old son, Ronald Percy Prickett.

In their attempts to reach the occupants, they wrenched off the tail of the plane. After they had dragged the pilot clear they pulled off his burning clothing. All of them sustained burned hands.

A Mass of Flames

R.A.F. fire tenders were sent from Manston station, but when they arrived the machine was completely burnt out. After they had extinguished the flames, nothing was left but the charred frame. Firemen from Ramsgate were also called to the spot.

Mr. Peter Prickett told a reporter, "We all burnt our hands in dragging the pilot clear. He was a mass of flames, but we managed to take off his harness and clothes. The youngster was in the front seat and it was impossible to get to him. The machine was a blazing inferno within a few moments."

Eye witnesses said the plane seemed to be preparing to land behind another machine when it went into a spin and banked before crashing.

The rescuers remained on the scene to keep away sightseers until the arrival of R.A.F. police, who kept guard on the field throughout Tuesday night. The village postmistress, Mrs. M. A. Smith, said that as the plane passed over the village it seemed to back-fire two or three times and then cut out.

Terrific Bump

Picking peas on the other side of the field in which the machine crashed was Mrs. L. Hogbin. "The plane came down with a terrific bump," she said. "Just before that I saw it turn in the air and it seemed to be dropping on the village."

The spot where the plane crashed was only a few yards from St. Catherine’s Church. The East Kent Coroner (Mr. W. R. Mowll) on Thursday opened an inquest into the crash. After hearing evidence from three witnesses, the inquest was adjourned until 19th July, when the coroner will have the assistance of a jury.

Evidence of identification was given by F/O Horace Nadal, of No. 46 Squadron, A.T.C., Manston, who said that at about 12.50 p.m. he helped to strap Webster into the plane. The plane crashed in Manston village about 10 minutes later and Webster died in the aircraft.

P/Sgt. T. A. Hogben said he was present when Webster's body was removed from the front cockpit of the plane, which had burnt right out. The injured pilot had been removed.

Pilot’s Loss of Memory

F/O Ferries John Morrison, Medical Officer at Manston R.A.F. station, told the coroner that Forster had a complete loss of memory of the accident. "It is quite possible he will never remember it," said the officer.

When the question of a suitable date for the adjournment arose, F/Lt. R. F. A. Wren, representing the Commanding Officer of Manston camp, told the coroner that a court of enquiry would be held into the crash and the president would want some evidence from the pilot.

F/O Morrison gave evidence of examining Forster about ten minutes after the crash and said his condition was then quite good. He had a compound fractured dislocation of the left ankle joint and witness accompanied him in the ambulance to the station sick quarters.

Remembered Turning Round

"I enquired as to what happened but he had amnesia," said witness. "He said he remembered turning round in the air and the next thing he remembered was waking up in the sick quarters."

F/O Morrison said Forster also remembered he had a passenger because he enquired about him.

The coroner: He could not remember anything more about the accident? - He did not remember about the accident at all.

Witness also gave evidence of examining Webster’s body, which he said, was badly burned. There was also a wound in the forehead which might not have been caused by burning. He could not diagnose any fractures although there might have been some.

F/O Morrison said death must have taken place very rapidly. He could not state the exact cause. It might have been due to asphyxia and, or, burning or by the injury to the head".

The inquest was formally adjourned as stated above.

Struck off charge 11.8.49. Manston is a village and civil parish in the Thanet district of Kent, England. The village is situated one mile northwest of Ramsgate. The parish includes four hamlets and the former Manston Airport

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949
3. Thanet Advertiser - Friday 8 July 1949
4. Thanet Advertiser - Friday 22 July 1949
5. A Detailed History of RAF Manston 1945-1999 By Joe Bamford
6. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
7. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=18618.0
8. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/military/Crashes_in_the_South_East.pdf
9. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p039.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
16-Jul-2022 21:22	Dr. John Smith	Added
19-Jul-2022 11:45	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
20-May-2023 21:18	Nepa	Updated [[Operator, Operator]]