Date:	Monday 4 December 1944
Time:	day
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk I
Owner/operator:	GRU RAF
Registration:	L5776
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Collyweston,3.2 miles south west of Stamford, Lincolnshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Collyweston, Stanford, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Fairey Battle TT.Mk.1 L5776 was assigned to the Gunnery Research Unit, which was formed at RAF Exeter, Devon on June 3 1940 from A' Flight, Armament Testing Squadron, A&AEE. Moved to Collyweston (3.2 miles south west of Stamford, Lincolnshire and part of RAF Wittering - the runways of the two were connected in 1941) on April 14 1944.

The aircraft was used in connection with the development of gun sights as a TT machine. It was green and brown and had yellow under surfaces and prototype (yellow letter P inside a circle) marking. Fitted with a Merlin III it had endured trials with anti-aircraft mines in 1939-40

Battle L5776 crashed on take off (presumed) at RAF Collyweston in December 4 1944; as the Fairey Battle had already been declared as obsolete in July 1944, it was struck off charge on December 12 1944 and finished its days being used for fire extinguishing tests at RAE Farnborough

1. Halley, J J, 1993, Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000 to N9999
2. Michael J.F. Bowyer, Airfix Magazine September 1969
3. Michael J.F. Bowyer, Airfix Magazine Setpember 1974
4. The Battle File, Sidney Shail, Air Britain, 1997

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Mar-2008 23:22	JINX	Added
20-May-2019 19:58	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
05-Nov-2019 14:52	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]