Date:	Friday 28 December 1945
Time:
Type:	Airspeed Oxford Mk I
Owner/operator:	21 (P) AFU RAF
Registration:	HN594
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Brown Knoll, Edale, Peak District, Derbyshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Standing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Seighford, Stafordshire
Destination airport:	RAF Seighford, Stafordshire

Narrative:
Airspeed Oxford Mk.I HN594 of No.21 (P)AFU crashed onto the 569 metre (1,867 feet) high Brown Knoll between Chinley and Edale, in the Peak District, Derbyshire (at approximate co ordinates 53°21′48″N 1°52′32″W) on 28th December 1945 while on a map reading exercise from RAF Seighford

With the war over, two airmen who’d served in South Africa were on a navigation exercise to familiarise themselves with flying twin engine aircraft in a British winter.

Instructor Warrant Officer Robinson had just taken control during the handover. Cunningham says that both trainees had expressed concern at the height of 1,000 feet on the altimeter, knowing that there was higher ground in the vicinity. Warrant Officer Robinson “…merely laughed at their apprehensions, assuring them that he knew the area like the back of his hand.”

They could have been famous last words, as the plane crashed at that moment, but fortunately he or Flying Officer Croker had just pulled back on the stick to gain height regardless of how well he knew the area, or the back of his hand. The effect of lifting the nose caused HN594 to hit the hill flat – and crucially there was no fire. Despite being thrown from the aircraft, as the least injured member of the crew, Flying Officer Croker went for help after first wrapping the two other crew in their parachutes to keep them warm on what turned out to be a record cold day and then night, reaching what at the time was a youth hostel after some three hours of crawling, he knocked on the door of the farm house next door to it and the alarm was raised. It was the following day before the wreck and the other two airmen were found, they were carried off the moor on stretchers.

Flying Officer Croker was subsequently awarded the King's Commendation for Brave Conduct. The crew were badly injured in the crash and Warrant Officer Robinson later had a leg amputated.

After the war, George Robinson made a pilgrimage up to the crash site every year. Ted Croker went on to play football for Charlton Athletic and later was secretary for the Football Asssociation. He’s the man responsible for the Charity Shield game. While his bravery on Brown Knoll won him a King’s Commendation for Brave Conduct, a fallout with Margaret Thatcher over football hooliganism possibly cost him a knighthood. Ted Croker died on Christmas Day (December 25) 1992, aged 68.

Crew;
Warrant Officer George Robinson, pilot, instructor
Flying Officer John E Dowthwaite, pilot under training
Flying Officer Edward A Croker, pilot under training

1. http://aircrashsites.co.uk/air-crash-sites-5/airspeed-oxford-hn594-brown-knoll-edale-england/
2. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-ted-croker-1565862.html
3. https://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/crash_sites/peak-district/airspeed-oxford-hn594-brown-knoll/
4. https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasujoba44/4831329763
5. http://peakwreckhunters.blogspot.co.uk/2007/08/airspeed-oxford-mki-hn594.html
6. http://www.stevelewis.me.uk/page17.php
7. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.baaa-acro.com/1945/archives/crash-of-an-airspeed-as-10-oxford-in-edale/]

1983 BBC TV "Look North" report on the crash, and the reunion of the crew:

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
03-Jan-2012 12:24	Uli Elch	Added
28-Jul-2017 19:25	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Date, Aircraft type, Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
30-Jul-2017 22:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Destination airport, Source]
12-Jan-2018 07:24	XindelX	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]