Date:	Wednesday 25 July 1951
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.100 Vampire FB Mk 5
Owner/operator:	102 FRS RAF
Registration:	WA400
MSN:	EEP/42...
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Strines Moor near Great Longstone, 8 miles SW of Sheffield, Yorkshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire
Destination airport:	RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
de Havilland DH.100 Vampire WA400, 102 FRS (Reserve Flying School), RAF: delivered 4/6/1951. Written off 25/7/1951. The pilot was on a training flight from RAF Finningley near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, when he became disorientated. As he had been airborne for some time, the aircraft had used up almost all of its fuel, this meant he was not able to fly safely back to Finningley. Flying Officer Beckford carried out a wheels up forced landing on Strines Moor near Great Longstone, 8 miles South West of Sheffield, South Yorkshire (at approximate co ordinates 53.40459N 1.67293 W) and was able to escape the aircraft. During the forced landing, the aircraft caught fire, and by the time the emergency services had travelled the eight miles from Sheffield, the aircraft had been consumed by fire.

Crew:
Flying Officer (205417) Lawrence Leslie BECKFORD (pilot) RAF - survived injured.

Flying Officer L L Beckford had previously been a member of the Royal Navy, his commission was terminated on the 26th February 1950 when he transferred to the RAF Volunteer Reserve. He had held the rank of Sub Lieutenant (Acting), and for a short period Lieutenant (Acting). He was comissioned as a Flying Officer the next day (27th February 1951). He resigned his RAF commission in December 1951, possibly as a result of the above accident, in which he had been involved five months earlier.

The crash site is within sight of Sugworth Hall, although all that remains of the wreckage is a small piece of melted aluminium.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.115 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft WA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain 1985)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.162
4. Aircraft Wrecks: The Walker's Guide: Historic Crash sites on the Moors and Mountains of Great Britain By Alan Clark, Nick Wotherspoon, Mark Sheldon
5. https://aircrashsites.co.uk/air-crash-sites-5/de-havilland-vampire-wa400/
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH100%20prodn%20list.txt
7. https://peakwreckhunters.blogspot.com/2007/11/dehavilland-vampire-fbmk5-wa400.html
8. https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/393924298628832794/
9. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WA
10. https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasujoba44/sets/72157628704604411/
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugworth_Hall
12. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/38935/supplement/2831/data.pdf
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strines_Reservoir .

Wreckage of Vampire WA400 on Strines Moor near Great Longstone, Yorkshire

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-May-2008 00:16	JINX	Added
08-Jun-2008 15:27	JINX	Updated
31-May-2013 16:28	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]
16-Oct-2018 15:16	JINX	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Source]
16-Oct-2018 18:34	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
08-Jan-2020 22:01	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Departure airport, Operator]
04-Feb-2021 01:06	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
04-Feb-2021 11:29	JINX	Updated [Operator, Narrative, Operator]
05-Feb-2021 16:41	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
05-Feb-2021 17:28	TG	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative, Operator]