Date:	Monday 10 August 1953
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	206 AFS RAF
Registration:	VZ406
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Bourn, Cambridgeshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.4, VZ406, 206 AFS, RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire: Delivered 14/11/1949. Written off (destroyed) 10/8/1953 when crashed at Bourn, Cambridgeshire.

The pilot, Wing Commander Leonard Henry Trent VC, DFC, was carrying out a practice aerobatics sortie from RAF Oakington. During this sortie, he commenced a vertical upwards roll from an altitude of 10,000 feet, rising to 19,000 feet when he reached the top of the roll. In the stall turn out of the roll, the Meteor entered an inverted spin, follwed by a nornal spin with violent pitching and yawing. At 7,000 feet, the pilot baled out safely - a unpleasant experience, even for a holder of the Victoria Cross!

According to a contemporary local newspaper report ("Ely Standard" 10 August 1953):

"The first question asked by the pilot of the Meteor aircraft which crashed near Bourn village was “Did it hit any houses? Was anyone hurt”. Wing Commander Leonard Trent, V.C., had bailed out; many people saw the parachute and gave the alarm. The plane plunged into the earth in a field and buried itself; fuel escaped and set fire to the standing barley but farm workers beat it out with branches and sticks"

Crew of Meteor VZ406:
Wing Commander (later Group Captain) Leonard Henry Trent, VC, DFC (Service Number NZ2481) (14 April 1915 – 19 May 1986) - baled out at 7,000 feet, and survived, parachuted to the ground.

He was a New Zealand aviator, senior Royal Air Force officer, and recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was awarded the VC for his actions during Operation "Ramrod 16" on 3/5/1943; the VC was awadred in March 1946, due to him having spent the period May 1943 to May 1945 as a PoW (Prisoner of War) in occupied Germany.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p. 130 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 260
3. Sanders, James (1983). Venturer Courageous: Group Captain Leonard Trent V.C., D.F.C. Auckland, New Zealand: Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-154600-1. pp.216-217
4. 206 AFS ORB (Operational Record Book)(Air Ministry File AM/F,540) for the period 1/10/1951 to 31/5/1954: National Archives (PRO Kew) file AIR 29/2146/1 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7162860
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VZ
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Trent#Post-war_service_career
7. http://www.vconline.org.uk/leonard-h-trent-vc/4588360262
8. https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/166/Trent-Leonard-Henry.htm
9. https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/5t20/trent-leonard-henry
10. Pilot's Victoria Cross Citation: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/documents/vc-citations/leonard-trent-vc.pdf
11. https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/c131843

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-May-2021 16:24	Dr. John Smith	Added
07-May-2021 20:36	BlBe	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]