Date:	Monday 25 June 1951
Time:	day
Type:	Westland Dragonfly HR.1
Owner/operator:	705 Sqn FAA RN
Registration:	VZ961
MSN:	WA/H/19
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Cams Hall, Fareham Creek, Portchester, Hampshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	HMS Siskin, RNAS Gosport, Gosport, Hamphire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Westland Dragonfly HR.1 VZ961: First flown at Westland's, Yeovil 19 April 1950, delivered to the FAA RN (Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy) on 2 June 1950 to HMS Siskin, RNAS Gosport, Hampshire.

Written off (destroyed) 25 June 1951 when crashed into the mud flats at Cams Hall, Farham Creek, Portchester, Hampshire. Both crew were killed. According to a biography of the pilot (see link #6):

"In March 1950 Mansfield Barrymore Allan Brown was assessed fit for flying duties, and in May he attended a special navigation course at HMAS Watson. In June 1950 he took passage on the aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney to the UK (HMAS Sydney was collecting the 21st Carrier Air Group) for a refresher flying course with the RN FAA, converting to naval aircraft at HMS Daedalus, RNAS Lee-on-Solent; then to HMS Fulmar, RNAS Lossiemouth. In January 1951 he was drafted to HMS Siskin, RNAS Gosport, for a helicopter course with 705 Squadron. On 25 June 1951 Lt Brown RAN was killed flying a Westland Dragonfly helicopter, serial VZ961. The local newspaper reported the following:

(Portsmouth Evening News - Monday 25 June 1951):
MACHINE EXPLODES OVER PORTCHESTER.
Two officers under training in H.M.S. Siskin, Gosport were killed when their helicopter exploded and crashed into Cams Bay, Portchester, this morning. The machine, which was partly buried in the mud, was a Westland Sikorsky Dragonfly. It crashed about a quarter of a mile from Wicor School, but did not catch on fire. Names of the officers will not be announced until the next of kin have been informed.

The machine crashed from a height of about 500 ft. Workmen from Wicor dump plunged through the mud in a rescue attempt, but found both men had been killed. Parts of the helicopter were scattered over an area of several hundred yards.

(Portsmouth Evening News - Tuesday 26 June 1951)
TWO HELICOPTER DEAD NAMED.
Two officers who were killed in yesterday's Navy helicopter crash at Portchester were: Lieut. Mansfield Barrymore Allan Brown, Royal Australian Navy, of Burnside, South Australia (the pilot), and Cadet Pilot Geoffrey William Capp, R.A.F.V.R., of Ealing. The aircraft came from H.M.S. Siskin, Gosport".

Cams Hall at Fareham, Hampshire, United Kingdom, is a Palladian mansion set in parkland overlooking Portsmouth Harbour. The land at Cams Hall was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and a manor house was recorded here as far back as the 13th century.

1. Fleet Air Arm Helicopters Since 1943 (Lee Howard, Mick Burrow, Eric Myall, Air Britain, 2011 p.15)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File ADM 1/22381: Accident to Dragonfly1, VZ961 25 June 1951: report of Board of Enquiry: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4841284
3. Portsmouth Evening News - Monday 25 June 1951
4. Portsmouth Evening News - Tuesday 26 June 1951
5. The Mercury (Hobart), 27 June 1951, page 1
6. Biography of Pilot: https://www.faaaa.asn.au/faa-roll-of-honour/brown-m-b/
7. https://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1951.htm
8. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=8701.0
9. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VZ
10. http://www.rotorspot.nl/product/ws51.php
11. https://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/hancrash.html
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cams_Hall

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Aug-2022 23:03	Dr. John Smith	Added
09-Aug-2022 08:04	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]