On the 27th of October 1952, the pilot of this Meteor lost control and the aircraft dived into the ground during a night
flying GCA exercise under the control of RAF Seaton Snook. The accident was caused by the trainee pilot taking the wrong
flying helmet with him on the aircraft, he passed out due to lack oxygen and was killed
in the resulting crash. Mr William Wood recalled the crash very vividly to me when I visited him in June 2003. The
aircraft dived into the ground near vertically very close to a dry stone wall, this sent soil and stone through the
air for afew hundred metres. The aircraft was completely destroyed. Fuel
ignited and set fire to nearby fields to the west of the crash.
Following the crash, the crater was filled and wall rebuilt in later years.
The inquest for the crash was held in a hanger at Middleton St George.
Meteor VW268 was built to contract 6/ACFT/1389 by the Gloster Aircraft Co. Ltd. and delivered to the RAF in January 1949. It remained
in MU storage until being issued to 205 AFS which formed at Middleton St. George on 7th September 1950. It was written off in the incident
detailed above with Cat. 5/FA Burnt damage on 27th October 1952.
Pilot - P/O John Michael Dill RAF (2521918), aged 19. Of Stratford, Mancaster. Buried Southern Cemetery, Manchester (grave no. I 394).
The red dot roughly marks where the Meteor crashed, photo taken from the opposite side of Bilsdale.
My thanks to Mr William Wood (formerly of Laskill) for recounting his memories of this crash.
John Dill was born on 25th February 1933, he was a National Service pilot and was made Acting P/O on probation (from Cadet Pilot) on 25th October 1951. He was confirmed
as P/O on 30th July 1952.
