On 19th June 1951 the pilot of this No.205 Advanced Flying School aircraft had taken off from Middleton St.George airfield at 12.30hrs to undertake what was described as a "long range exercise" training flight. He appears to have been flying with others and was briefed to fly at 30,000 feet for part of the flight before descending to carry out aerobatics at a lower level. Thirty minutes into the flight the aircraft was seen decending at between two and three thousand feet over the Ribblehead area when it then entered a near vertical dive and caught fire just before it struck the ground at 13.00hrs. On striking hard limestone the aircraft exploded and scattered wreckage across a wide area. It was thought that the pilot had probably passed out through lack of oxygen just before the aircraft entered the dive from which there was no hope of recovering from.
Pilot - P/O Gerald Leslie Reeve RAF (3119556), aged 20, Born Weedon, Northamptonshire. Buried Darlington Western Cemetery, Co.Durham.
The pilot's gravestone in Darlington Western Cemetery. He received a short service commission on 25th January 1951 to the rank of P/O but his seniority was back dated to 9th November 1950 and his period of service was to count from 17th March 1949. Nothing more is known about him. I am seeking a photograph of him should anyone read this and be able to provide one please.
The general area of the crash site, in the foothills of Ingleborough.
The area of where Meteor VT239 crashed.
An example of the small fragments of the aeroplane that lay on the limestone pavement at the crash site.
The nature of this incident would suggest that not much of the unfortunate young pilot was recovered even though he has a formal grave. I am aware that some people use my webpages to locate sites and to then have a poke around in the ground to see what remains under the surface. Can I plead with anyone to use common sense and not do it. The site is fairly obvious and has enough small surface fragments to confirm where it is, there is no need to go further.