Date:	Monday 10 September 1951
Time:	15:30 LT
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 8
Owner/operator:	263 (Fellowship of the Bellows) Sqn RAF
Registration:	VZ510
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Hainault Avenue, Westcliffe-on-Sea, Essex -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Wattisham, Suffolk
Destination airport:	Southend Airport, Essex (EGMC)
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Monday September 10th 1951: RAF Gloster Meteor F8 VZ510 of 263 Squadron, flown by Pilot Officer Lionel Millikin broke up in mid air over Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, the fuselage crashing onto Hainault Avenue; 88 Beedell Avenue was destroyed, wreckage was strewn across Ramuz Drive & Brightwell Avenue as well, the Pilot was attempting to get to Southend Airport when the aircraft broke up. His body was found 20 minutes after the crash still strapped in his seat.

The Gloster Meteor was on a routine flight flying at about 1,500 feet. Somewhere down below in the town was the pilot's lady love. Her identity remains unknown, but according to a widely circulated story, she was a Leigh school-teacher, taking a primary class at the time. As he passed over her head, Millikin put the Meteor into a victory roll. The manoeuvre was allegedly a love token. Whatever the implicit message, it proved fatal.

An engine was recovered near Southend Pier. Those killed on the ground were: Mr S Smith & Mrs A M Gilbert with Mrs F Sydenham passing away later in Southend General Hospital. The accident also injured Mr H Duck.

Lionel was 25 and the son of Edgar Horace Millikin and Muriel Millikin, nee Dancy.He is included on the Armed Forces Memorial and on their Roll of Honour.He is also remembered on the roll of honour in the church. His parents were later laid to rest with him.

Note:The Roll of Honour (Armed Forces Memorial) shows the original place of burial as RINGSHALL CHURCHYARD, SUFFOLK, but subsequently it seems that the body was exhumed and reinterred.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.119 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 Colin Cummings P 175
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/65: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424186
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/31/S2541: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578387
5. https://www.sarfend.co.uk/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1297452610
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/18927.php
7. https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?56920-Meteor-crash-Westcliff-1950-s
8. https://www.findagrave.com/page=gr&GRid=46869563
9. https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-mail/20110706/288235256612179
10. http://www.southendtimeline.com/1951.htm

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
09-Sep-2012 05:32	richard b	Added
11-Jul-2015 00:22	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Registration, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
07-Jan-2016 21:20	JIXN	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
27-Nov-2019 11:17	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator]
26-Dec-2019 23:51	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Phase, Source, Narrative]
01-Feb-2021 20:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]