Date:	Sunday 3 January 1943
Time:	night
Type:	Airspeed Oxford Mk I
Owner/operator:	5 FPP ATA
Registration:	V3888
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Cambridge, Teversham, Cambridgeshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:	RAF Cambridge, Teversham, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Airspeed AS-10 Oxford Mk.I V3888, of 5 Ferry Pilots Pool, Air Transport Auxiliary, written off (destroyed) 3 January 1943: Shortly after take off from Cambridge Airport by night, an engine failed. The pilot attempted to make an emergency landing but the aircraft hit a tree and crashed onto a house. The pilot was killed while there were no casualties on the ground. The pilot, Irene Arckless was taken to Addenbrook's Hospital in Cambridge but was pronounced dead on arrival. In addition, there was a contemporary newspaper report ("Gloucester Citizen" 6th January 1943):

"AIR GIRL TRIED TO SAVE PLANE
Ferry Pilot Irene Arckless, 27-years-old A.T.A. Second Officer, made a last-ditch attempt to avoid the plane crash into a house in Cambridge, in which she died.

Witnesses at the inquest yesterday said the machine was very low. It turned as if trying to avoid the house, but apparently touched a tree and crashed head-on."

Pilot - and sole person on board - Second Officer Irene Arckless, Air Transport Auxiliary, is buried in Carlisle (Stanwix) Cemetery. She was engaged to be married. When she died her RAF fiancé was a Prisoner of War in Germany
R.I.P.

1. ATA Casualties at http://www.raf-lichfield.co.uk/ATA%20Casualties.htm
2. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.baaa-acro.com/1943/archives/crash-of-an-airspeed-as-10-oxford-in-cambridge-1-killed/]
3. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59605263
4. https://www.ata-ferry-pilots.org/index.php/category-blog-1941/650-arckless-irene
5. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?17389-Oxford-V3888-crashed-3rd-January-1943-near-Cambridge
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty-details.aspx?cid=2695661&name=ARCKLESS,%20IRENE
7. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://war-graves.co.uk/Cemeteries/England/Cumberland/Carlisle_Stanwix_Cemetery/335071.php]
8. The Ottawa Journal Ottawa, Canada Tuesday, March 9, 1943 Page 7 at https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/48095637/
9. http://www.cumbriasmuseumofmilitarylife.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Friends-Newsletter-15-04-16.pdf (page 5)

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
19-Aug-2014 23:05	angels one five	Added
20-Oct-2015 17:50	Jixn	Updated [Operator]
06-Aug-2017 21:22	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
14-Dec-2017 09:02	angels one five	Updated [Operator]
15-Feb-2018 19:37	Nepa	Updated [Operator]
18-Jan-2024 17:35	Anon.	Updated [Source]