Oxford AP498 at Church Fenton airfield.
On 18th April 1942 the two airmen in this aircraft were undertaking night circuits and landings basic training flight, on board was an instructor and pupil pilot. During one of these landings one of the aircraft's engines cut out at 500 feet on the approach to land at Church Fenton at 04.15hrs. The pilot had already lowered the undercarriage and the flaps by the stage, the aircraft lost height and hit the ground in the undershoot area and was badly damaged. The two airmen escaped injury but the aircraft was badly damaged and was written off.
Oxford AP498 had a brief history, it was built to contract B.67831/40 by Percival Aircraft Ltd. at Luton and was awaiting collection in November 1941. It was taken on charge by 54 OTU at Church Fenton on 23rd November 1941 and as a result of the crash on 18th April 1942 Cat.E2/FA damage was recorded.
Instructor - WO Walter Henry Edmond RAF (563762).
Pupil Pilot - Sgt Michael Harold Griffith RAF (1171174), of Torquay, Devon.
Michael Griffith was born on 26th April 1922. He completed his training and was posted to 25 Squadron. He was involved in two other accidents later in 1942; all three were down to similar causes. In the first 25 Squadron mishap he was the pilot of Beaufighter X7706 undertaking a calibration flight on 9th August 1942 when the aircraft suffered an engine failure near Thirsk, Yorkshire. He force landed near Abbot's Close Farm, Thirsk without injury to himself. The crash report for X7706 states that the pilot was inexperienced suggesting he was just out of training, almost certainly with 54 OTU with it being a night-fighter training unit. The last accident had a more serious outcome and resulted in him losing his life on 7th November 1942 flying in Beaufighter X7698 which crashed at Bielby, near Pocklington. Sparks from a faulty exhaust manifold resulted in him shutting down the engine and he was unable to fly it on one engine. He was twenty years old and was buried at Barmby Moor Churchyard, Pocklington, Yorkshire. His observer on this fatal flight was Sgt Gerald Wheatland RAFVR (1338437) who survived, he was admitted to hospital suffering from severe burns and a fractured pelvis. Sgt Wheatland recovered from his injuries and was posted back to 25 Squadron but was killed on 8th April 1943 when Mosquito DD747 crashed near Goole (an accident detailed on this website). I thank Michael Griffith's niece for contacting me in January 2014 and for kindly supplying the photograph of him shown above.
Michael Griffith's father was Major Harold Kinder Griffith TD, MB, FRCS, Royal Army Medical Corps (Territorial Army) who was awarded the French "Medaille de la Reconnaissance Francaise" En Bronse in March 1926 and who is recorded as living at Roydon, Asheldon Road, Torquay. He was born in 1886 and died in 1966.
