Date:	Sunday 23 September 1945
Time:
Type:	Short Stirling Mk IV
Owner/operator:	1665 HCU RAF
Registration:	LJ828
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 6
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Marston Moor, North Yorkshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Marston Moor, North Yorkshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Short Stirling LJ828: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 23 September 1945 when sustained damage in a landing accident at RAF Marston Moor, North Yorkshire. According to one source (see link #3):

"On 23 September 1945, just weeks after the end of World War II. Flying Officer Sydney Bunting, at the time stationed at RAF Marston Moor, had a lucky escape when Stirling LJ828 which he was piloting, suffered a burst tyre on landing at Marston Moor. He managed to keep the aircraft fairly straight on the runway, but when he crossed the runway intersection, the wheel rim sunk into the soft ground, resulting in the collapse of the undercarriage. All six crew survived uninjured, but the aircraft was a write off."
Crew of Stirling LJ828:
Pilot - P/O Sydney Harold Bunting (172231) RAFVR - Ok
Engineer - Sgt Raymond Victor Viall (1629417) RAFVR - Ok
Nav. - Sgt Ronald Alec Alexander (1851215) RAFVR - Ok
Bomber - F/O Kenneth Herbert Griffiths (164899) RAFVR - Ok
Sgt (1898979) Albert Edward Bonass (WOp/AG) RAFVR - Ok
F/O (184201) John Cantle-Jones (AG) RAFVR - Ok

Sadly, Flying Officer Sydney Bunting was killed some two weeks later, on 9 October 1945 when piloting Stirling LJ622 on a night cross country navigation sortie, with the same crew. This time, all six of the above crew members were killed along with one civilian (the postmaster - Stirling LJ622 crashed into the Post Office at Tockwith, North Yorkshire) (which see)

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.9. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. The Stirling File (Bryce Gomershall, Air Britain, 1979 p 77)
3. http://aircrewremembered.com/bunting-sydney.html
4. Related crash of Stirling LJ622: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/173143

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
26-Oct-2019 19:51	Dr. John Smith	Added
01-Nov-2019 16:04	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
11-Nov-2023 11:15	Nepa	Updated [Time, Location, Narrative, Operator]