Date:	Thursday 17 October 1946
Time:	day
Type:	Airspeed Oxford Mk I
Owner/operator:	12 MU CF RAF
Registration:	RR336
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	1 mile west of Sandridge, near St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Kirkbride, Cumberland
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Airspeed Oxford RR336, 12 MU CF RAF (12 Maintenance Unit Communications Flight) RAF Kirkbride:
Written off (damaged beyond repair) 17 October 1946 when crashed near Sandridge, near St. Albans, Hertfordshire: While performing a training flight at low height, the Airspeed Oxford collided with a RAF De Havilland DH.82a Tiger Moth II, T7615, carrying a crew of two. Both aircraft went out of control, dove into the ground and crashed in a field located one mile west of Sandridge. Both aircraft were destroyed and all four crew members were killed (two in each aircraft)

Crew of Tiger Moth T7615:
F/Lt (153370) Leslie Norman Empson (pilot) RAFVR - Killed on active service 17/10/46.
Sub-Lt George Armstrong Greenwood (pass.) RCNVR Killed on active service 17/10/46.

Crew of Airspeed Oxford RR336
W/Cdr (39910) Edward Charles Croker Tomkins DFC (pilot) RAF - Killed on active service 17/10/46.
AC.1 (1179407) Spencer William Hichens (pass.) RAFVR Killed on active service 17/10/46.

The incident merited a brief mention in the "The Times" on 18 October 1946. Always dangerous to make assumptions but the reference to 'an inadequate lookout' in the "Times" report. High pressure had dominated the weather for several days and it was probable the visibility was reduced by haze, which couldn't have made things easy.

The reported crash location of Sandridge is a village and civil parish between St Albans and Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire, England, at approximate co-ordinates 51.78084°N 0.30384°W.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.54. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. The Oxford, Consul & Envoy File (John F Hamlin, Air Britain, 2001 p 196)
3. Write-Offs 1946". Air-Britain Aeromiltaria. Air-Britain, Vol 2 (issue 4): pages 93–106. 1979.
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mid-air_collisions_and_incidents_in_the_United_Kingdom#1940s
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p840.html
6. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-airspeed-as10-oxford-sandridge-1-killed
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2706665/empson,-leslie-norman/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2666900/george-armstrong-greenwood/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2933072/tomkins,-edward-charles-crocker/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2948621/hichens,-spencer-william/
11. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?4824-W-C-E-C-C-Tomkins-DFC-(39910)&p=27117#post27117
12. Grave of Sqn Leader Tomkins: https://www.flickriver.com/photos/harlowirish/48868876908/
13. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=52498
14. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2666900
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandridge

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
30-Jul-2017 20:51	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Source, Damage, Narrative]
17-Nov-2019 03:31	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Source, Narrative]
17-Nov-2019 03:33	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
17-Nov-2019 17:23	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
18-Nov-2019 01:06	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source]
18-Nov-2019 22:01	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
29-May-2023 09:04	Nepa	Updated [[Operator, Operator]]
29-May-2023 11:42	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[[Operator, Operator]]]
23-Sep-2023 20:47	Nepa	Updated [[[[Operator, Operator]]]]