Date:	Friday 24 September 1954
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5
Owner/operator:	9 FTS RAF
Registration:	WA274
MSN:	EEP/42...
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Wood Court Farm, 2.5 miles west of RAF Merryfield, Somerset -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Merryfield, Ilton, Somerset
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5 WA274: Delivered 23/11/50. RAF Service was with 28 Squadron, 208 AFS (Advanced Flying School) and 9 FTS.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 24/9/54: The engine suffered an explosion on take off from RAF Merryfield, Ilton, Ilchester, Somerset, and came down in a field at Wood Court Farm, two-and-a-half miles west of the airfield. The Farm was owned at he time by a Mr. E Scriven. The Vampire caught fire on impact, and the pilot sustained back injuries.

The pilot of the DH Vampire was Pilot Officer V.W. Wilson of Bakewell, Derbyshire. Despite suffering severe back injuries, the pilot managed to drag himself clear of the burning aircraft before collapsing. Two local people who had witnessed the accident - Mr. Alex Scott (owner of the Stewley Lodge Filling Station) and Mr. Gerry Whickham (a local farmer) went to the crash site and aided the pilot. They put him in Alex Scott's car and drove him to hospital in Taunton. For their actions the two rescuers were commended for their bravery

1. Western Gazette - October 1 1954
2. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.164 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p.84)
4. Category Five; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1954 to 2009 by Colin Cummings p.79
5. Wings Over Somerset: Aircraft Crashes since the End of World War II By Peter Forrester
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WA
7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH100%20prodn%20list.txt

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-May-2008 14:47	JINX	Added
08-Jun-2008 21:41	JINX	Updated
18-May-2015 17:52	MiG21	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport]
18-May-2015 17:53	MiG21	Updated [Phase]
22-Apr-2020 22:49	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
23-Apr-2020 09:41	MIG21	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Nature, Operator]