Meteor F.8 WK936 near Wombleton.
On 9th August 1954 two pilots from 245 Squadron were each briefed to fly a Meteor on a training exercise that involved each of them making a simulated attacks on the disused Wombleton airfield in North Yorkshire. F/O Terence Smith flew in one of the aircraft while F/O Richard Henry Stalker flew the other and after taking off from their base at Horsham St.Faith, Norfolk headed toward Wombleton. The two aircraft were seen to overfly Wombleton airfield and for around ten minutes had both been diving down to practice attacking the airfield. At 11.50hrs and during one of the low level attacks Meteor WK936 was put into a banked turn. Unfortunately it was near to one of the old hangers and as it passed over the lower wing clipped the building. This caused the outer part of the wing to be torn off the aircraft. The hanger was being used as a sugarbeet storage shed at the time. With the exception of the wing section, the rest of the aircraft cleared the hanger and continued briefly. The tail and other wing parts then broke away and the main part of the aircraft crashed into slightly rising ground. It then exploded either in or near the former hospital site on one the old airfield's dispersed building areas and near to where the RCAF memorial was later erected on the Harome to Wombleton road. Sadly the pilot was sadly killed in the accident with his body being found by farm workers inside one of the old hospital site buildings being used as a piggery at the time.
Pilot - F/O Terence Alfred Smith RAF (4080170), aged 21. Buried St Mary's RC Cemetery, Harrow Road, London (grave 1928).
Terence Smith was born on 22nd June 1933. He received a commission on 27th February 1952 to the rank of Acting P/O on probation and placed on the active list for four years and four years in the reserve, this period of service was to count from 26th September 1951. He was graded as P/O on 28th November 1952 and rose to F/O on 26th December 1953. I credit Mina Schmidt / Findagrave.com for the photograph of his gravestone.
