Date:	Thursday 13 December 1945
Time:
Type:	de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito PR Mk 34
Owner/operator:	540 Sqn RAF
Registration:	RG228
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	River Arun, 1/4 mile SE of RNAS Ford, West Sussex, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Benson, Oxfordshire
Destination airport:	RNAS Ford /HMS Peregrine, West Sussex

Narrative:
Mosquito RG228: Took off at 12:20 hrs to carry out a fuel consumption test. 13/12/1945.
Was to climb to 28,000 feet, flying to Marseilles and back and to remain at height. Over Dieppe, at an altitude of 28,00 feet, the starboard engine began to cough and the revs fluctuated - the aircraft became unstable and F/Lt Trevor descended to 26,000 at which point the engine stopped misbehaving. A second attempt was made to reach height but again the starboard engine started to cut out, accompanied by a high-pitched whine. Losing altitude again seemed to cure the problem. A third attempt, with similar consequences, made the pilot decide to lose height and return to base. Both engines behaved normally until at 4000 feet, just off Beachy Head, when the starboard unit cut out completely. The feathering button was pressed without result and the propeller continued to windmill. Course was set for RNAS Ford - the pilot eventually decided that they couldn't quite make it and he decided to go in 'wheels up' in a field, and he instructed F/Lt Randles to jettison the escape hatch and brace for impact. Crashed into the River Arun near RNAS Ford /HMS Peregrine.
F/Lt Trevor was an 'above average' pilot who had served through most of WWII as a Flying Instructor.
Mosquito RG228 was a new aircraft. The weather was fine, and had no bearing on the accident.
Crew:
F/Lt (144.178) Guy TREVOR (pilot) RAFVR - killed
F/Lt (145.034) Cecil Rawlings RANDLES (nav.) RAFVR - bailed out Ok


According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Hartlepool Mail" - Friday 28 December 1945):
"KILLED IN FLYING ACCIDENT
Flt-Lt G Trevor of Castle Eden
Flight Lieutenant Guy Trevor, son of Mr Arthur Trevor, Schoolmaster at Castle Eden, has been killed in a flying accident in the South of England. Owing to engine trouble the machine had to make a forced landing and in doing so hit a bank and ended up in the river. The body of Flt-Lieut Trevor has yet to be recovered.
F/Lt Trevor had been flying for more than five years , for over two years had been a pilot instructor , finally becoming an instructor at a Pilot Instructor's School. Applying for a transfer he was posted to 540 Squadron Photographic and Reconnaissance Unit, with which he was still serving, having operated from bases in England, Scotland, France and Norway. Before joining the RAF he was an architectural pupil at King's College, Newcastle. A memorial service will be held in Castle Eden Church at 3-15pm on Sunday"
Mosquito RG228 struck the bank of the River Arun and almost completely disintegrated - both engines were torn out and landed, with the main parts of the wreckage, in the middle of the river. Smaller pieces of wreckage drifted downriver and were lost, the starboard propeller was found partially embedded in the bank, and one drop tank was found close by. F/Lt Randles was rescued from the tail plane to which he was found clinging - brave and prompt action from civilians and FAA personnel got him to shore in a dazed state and covered with blood.
The pilot was not found - his body was eventually recovered from the River Arun in April of the following year, approximately at the scene of the accident.

1.http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH98%20prodn%20list.txtt
2.ORB 540 Sqdn ORB
3.http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=1455.0;wap2
4.https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8422826
5.Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells.
6. Hartlepool Mail - Friday 28 December 1945

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-Jan-2014 18:21	Nepa	Added
13-Jul-2014 16:02	HB	Updated [Narrative]
29-Sep-2014 17:24	Siczak	Updated [Location]
24-Nov-2014 11:10	Oezil	Updated [Total fatalities, Source, Narrative]
15-Sep-2015 17:44	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative]
04-Mar-2016 19:49	HB	Updated [Narrative]
01-Nov-2019 23:13	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative]
04-Nov-2019 15:07	Nepa	Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator]
20-Jan-2020 11:06	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Source, Narrative, Operator]
17-Feb-2020 05:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
17-Feb-2020 05:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
17-Feb-2020 05:23	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Destination airport, Source]
17-Feb-2020 05:23	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
19-Feb-2020 22:15	Nepa	Updated [Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Operator]
07-Aug-2021 20:00	BlBe	Updated [Time, Operator]
08-Oct-2021 21:26	Nepa	Updated [Source, Narrative, Operator]
01-Jan-2022 10:56	Nepa	Updated [Source, Narrative, Operator]