Airspeed Oxford LX745
‹ Return to Air Crash Sites
Airspeed Oxford LX745
Oxford LX745 crashed near Shining Tor in the Peak District with the loss of all 3 crewmen. This was a training flight with a pupil pilot at the helm. He descended in low cloud believing he was over the base at RAF Calveley near Crewe. In fact the aircraft was off course due to a change in wind direction and was some 28 miles from base when it crashed on 12th March 1944.
Cunningham cites a local shepherd, a Mr Albert Heathcote, who said the bodies of the men were found sitting beside their crashed aircraft – they had survived the impact but died of exposure waiting for help to arrive (the aircraft not being found for some days after the crash). This detail about the crew is not recorded elsewhere to my knowledge, but that’s not to say the shepherd got it wrong.
Crew
Flying Officer Charles Stuart Grant Wood, pilot instructor.
Pilot Officer Gerald Cambell Liggett, pupil pilot
Flight sergeant Joseph George Hall, navigator / wireless op
fuel tank embedded in the ground.
Photos from crash site visit September 2018
How sad, Ian! An amazing amount of wreckage still to be seen as a poignant reminder of a very sad day!
With photos like this their plight will be brought to the attention of more people which is as it should be!
Good take Ian!
The sun was shining at just the right time in this shot Ian . I recall sitting and waiting for quite a while for it to do so . A tragedy for the men to die like that especially as this site does not feel so remote as many do .
That reminds me ….need to get back looking for wreck sites too .
Nice shot Ian – interesting story passed down and I would guess there is something in it.
I know I say this every time but…. I’m amazed at all these crash sites and I’m amazed by how much knowledge you have about the background. Always makes for an interesting read
Oh dear! Such a sad story. It’s so interesting reading these stories!
Lovely shots as always too! %-)
Very sad. Great shot and the views beyond show how remote it is
I have some parts of Airspeed Oxfords, from the airfield at Banff, that I managed to rescue from a scrappy a few years back. They still retain the yellow paint scheme that they were painted to signify that they were training aircraft and a few bits still have aircraft and serial numbers on them.
Thanks for the shots and story.
Hello do you still have the Airspeed Oxford parts.
We are rebuilding one at the moment
21dibs@gmail.com
Another of your great captures and recordings of part of our history Ian.
I don’t know if you’ve been to the Lincs Aviation Centre at East Kirkby but they’ve got some really interesting material covering the loss of aircraft on non-combat flights. The kind of incident which involved this Airspeed Oxford was unfortunately all too common.
If you haven’t been then I’d hazard a guess that you’d be interested in the Lincolnshire Aircraft Recovery Group exhibits too.
See http://www.lincsaviation.co.uk/
great info and capture ian love your work mate………top’s
That fuel tank could be a rock – looks so natural.The main wreckage looks like bits of torn up paper,
Very interesting.
Especially interesting to me since my Uncle Tony died in an Airspeed Oxford crash, near Little Rissington, also on a training flight.
Thanks everyone.
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/23566863@N08]
Sad to hear of your Uncle. Thanks for stopping by. Interesting history about RAF Little Rissington…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Little_Rissington