Date:	Friday 6 September 1946
Time:	03:15
Type:	Vickers Wellington Mk X
Owner/operator:	21 OTU RAF
Registration:	PG135
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Long Compton, 5 km E of RAF Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire
Destination airport:	RAF Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire

Narrative:
Vickers Wellington Mk. X PG135, 21 OTU RAF: Written off (destroyed) 6-9-46. On final approach to RAF Moreton-in-Marsh, while on a local training sortie, the aircraft hit the ground and crashed in a field located in Long Compton, about five km east of the airfield. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and all five crew members were killed. The accident occurred by night and low visibility due to clouds.

Crew (21 OTU):
Flying Officer (Pilot) Derrick James Ferdinando, Service Number 57541, aged 21 - killed on active service 6/9/46, buried at Botley Cemetery, Oxford
Flight Lieutenant (Navigator/Wireless Op.) Kenneth Gordon John Gratton, Service Number 152857, aged 24 - killed on active service 6/9/46, buried at Golders Green Crematorium, Golders Greem, London NW
Flight Sergeant (Navigator (Bomb Aimer)) Robert Dunn, Service Number 1814207, aged 21 - killed on active service 6/9/46, buried at Hasting Cemetery, Hastings, East Sussex
Sergeant (Wireless Operator) William Bernard Greatrix, Service Number 1869682, killed on active service 6/9/46, buried at Dallington Cemetery, Northampton
Sergeant (Air Gunner) Dennis Eric Robinson, Service Number 3032798, aged 20, killed on active service 6/9/46, buried at Botley Cemetery, Oxford

At the inquest it was revealed that the aircraft (PG135) had flown over Moreton at 900 feet after a four-hour flight, and was in contact with the tower at 02.55am. A yellow glow was seen by witnesses coming from the aircraft just before it struck the ground.

Long Compton is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England near the extreme southern tip of Warwickshire, and close to the border with Oxfordshire. It is part of the district of Stratford-on-Avon; The village is in the Cotswolds. It is served by the A3400 (formerly the A34) from Oxford to Stratford-upon-Avon.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4. p.51
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.211
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
4. "RAF Write-offs 1946": Air Britain Aeromilitaria 1979 p.103: https://air-britain.com/pdfs/aeromilitaria/Aeromilitaria_1979.pdf
3. http://www.aviationarchaeology.org.uk/marg/crashes1946-49.htm
4. http://www.wellingtonaviation.org/history/docs/46.htm
5. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-vickers-619-wellington-x-raf-moreton-marsh-5-killed
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2436816/ferdinando,-derrick-james/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2430866/gratton,-kenneth-gordon-john/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2723323/dunn,-robert/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2949390/greatrix,-william-bernard/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2437052/robinson,-denis-eric/
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Compton

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
01-Sep-2013 20:39	JINX	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Source, Narrative]
27-Apr-2015 20:01	Slizack	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
27-Apr-2017 20:23	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
29-Apr-2017 22:18	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
29-Apr-2017 22:19	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Time]
11-Nov-2019 02:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Source, Narrative]
12-Nov-2019 22:30	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
17-Nov-2019 01:42	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
07-Jun-2023 21:40	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Source]]