Date:	Monday 4 March 1957
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.112 Venom FB Mk 4
Owner/operator:	22 MU RAF
Registration:	WR557
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	south of Broad Mea, Croglin Fell, Slaggyford, Northumberland -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	RAF Silloth, Cumberland
Destination airport:	RAF Silloth, Cumberland
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Taken on charge and delivered to the RAF on February 9, 1956. On 4 March 1957, Flight Lieutenant William Forster Marshall (aged 31) had taken off from RAF Silloth in Cumbria for a test flight in WR557. Just over fifteen minutes into the flight Flt Lt Marshall reported that the aircraft’s elevator was jammed and requested let down assistance to return to Silloth. At that time the aircraft was plotted by radio fixes as being a short distance from Durham.

In a further radio transmission Flt Lt Marshall stated he was going to descend from 28,000 ft to 10,000 ft to increase the aircraft’s fuel burn. He was advised that he should maintain a safety altitude of 4,800ft and was given QDMs to return to Silloth. These were acknowledged and after being airborne for only 22 minutes Flt Lt Marshall stated his intention to descend below 10,000 and land back at Silloth. This was the final transmission from the pilot and when no further contact was made and he failed to return to Silloth a search was initiated. Three days later a mountain rescue team found the wreckage of the aircraft spread across a large area of remote moorland in the North Pennines to the west of Alston, only just to the south of the direct track from his last known position to Silloth.

The cause of the crash was not positively determined, examination of the elevator did not reveal any evidence of a fault with it. As the aircraft had struck the ground at a shallow angle, just inside Northumberland, and broken up over a large area, crossing into Cumbria, it was assumed that the pilot had descended below the safety height for the area too soon and struck the top of the ridge. Where the crash occurred was on the last high ridge before the Eden Valley and RAF Silloth.

Broad Mea lies on Croglin Fell, between the villages of Croglin (B6413) and Slaggyford (A689). According to an article in the Newcastle Chronicle for April 19 2016 (see link #2):

"Twisted shards of metal mark the spot of a 1950s air crash tragedy. The crash site of the fighter bomber De-Havilland DH 112 Venom is known only to a few. Local farmers and gamekeepers – and the occasional walker – are the only ones who are aware of the fatal crash site.

The plane came down in the Northumberland moors on March 4 1957 while on a test flight from RAF Silloth in Cumbria, and claimed the life of the pilot, Flt Lt W. F. Marshall. The nearest village to the site is Slaggyford in the North Pennines and the wreckage lies around five miles from there. According to Tim McGuinness who visited the crash site in April 2016:

“I’d read about the crash site online and was interested to try and find it. It was hard going as there were very few paths over the fells to the site and I had to rely on my GPS to get to it. Once I found the site there was quite a bit of wreckage left and also a wooden remembrance cross that had clearly been left there in recent years.”

Note that the official Board of Inquiry report at the National Archives at Kew (File AVIA 5/36/S2869) gives the crash location as "30 miles east of Silloth". Other published sources give the crash location as "Farlam Currick" and/or "Lawlers Cross".

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.188 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1983, p.91)
3. https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/see-little-known-site-1950s-11210693
4. http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1957.htm
5. http://www.aircrashsites-scotland.co.uk/dh-venom-wr557_broad-mea.htm
6. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1902031
7. https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/news/1138994/inside-cold-war-crash-site-last-resting-place-of-raf-pilot-whose-fighter-jet-crashed-on-desolate-moor/
8. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/36/S2869: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578649
9. photo of wreckage: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/gallery/wrecks-relics-found-more-remote-12383577
10. http://www.wtdwhd.co.uk/Croglin.html
11. https://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/crash_sites/pennines/1957-03-04venom-f-b-mk-4wr557no-22-mu-raffarlam-currick-northumberland/
12. http://www.planetrace.co.uk/1950-1959_26.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-May-2009 12:58	XLerate	Added
24-May-2011 15:14	angels one five	Updated [Date]
29-Jun-2011 15:32	angels one five	Updated [Date, Aircraft type, Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
28-Jun-2014 02:21	angels one five	Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Narrative]
26-May-2015 12:44	Angel dick one	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
25-Apr-2016 15:07	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
10-Jan-2020 20:53	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
14-Feb-2020 22:54	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative]
29-Jul-2020 20:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
29-Jul-2020 20:52	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
30-Jul-2020 07:39	Angel Dick one	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]