Oxford V4198 near Doncaster.
On 1st December 1941 this aircraft was being flown by an ATA ferry pilot on a ferry flight with No.6 Ferry Pilot Pool. The destination was to have been Finningley but the pilot had taken off without checking the weather forecast and when he became lost in poor visibility he belly landed the aircraft in a field near Doncaster at 17.15hrs. It would be dark at this time and I believe that ATA pilots were not allowed to fly in the dark at this stage in the war.
Pilot - F/O James Aloysius Stuart ATA (M.268).
Oxford V4198 was built to contract B.55347/39 by The Standard Motor Company Ltd. at Coventry and was awaiting collection in November 1941. On 1st December 1941 it was being ferried to Finningley by the ATA pilot when this forced landing occurred, the damage was assessed as being minor Cat.M/FA but three days later it was taken on charge by 1507 Beam Approach Training Flight at Finningley so it was either very quickly repaired or was taken on charge at Finningley in a damaged state and repaired there. It remained with 1507 B.A.T. Flight at Finningley until 13th March 1943 when they moved to Warboys and they then moved to Gransden Lodge on 17th June 1943. This B.A.T. Flight disbanded on 27th November 1943 and Oxford V4198 was flown into long term MU storage. It then remained in store until 2nd July 1947 when it was sold to Airspeed Ltd. at Portsmouth but the aircraft never received a civil registration and after this date nothing more is known.