Date:	Friday 11 July 1952
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.100 Vampire F Mk 1
Owner/operator:	208 AFS RAF
Registration:	VF300
MSN:	EEP/40140
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Tintinhull, Stoke-under-Ham, near Yeovil, Somerset, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Merryfield, Ilton, Ilchester, Somerset (EGDI)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
De Havilland DH.100 Vampire F.1 VF300, 208 AFS, RAF: Crashed and destroyed when airframe overstressed and broke up in dive at Tintinhull, Stoke-under-Ham, near Yeovil, Somerset, on 11/7/52: the Vampire was seen to explode at low level over fields before crashing

The aircraft was making a formation roll at about 1,000 feet above cloud, but lost formation. On being instructed to rejoin the formation, the aircraft went into a vertical dive, shedding pieces of the tailplane as it crashed

Wreckage recovered to 49 MU RAF Colerne where struck off charge as Cat.5(scrap) on 26/7/52. However, substantial pieces of wreckage were reportedly recovered from the crash site in 1985 by SWARG (South West Aircraft Recovery Group)

Pilot of Vampire VF300
Flight Sergeant Richard Butler Lines (pilot) RAF - killed 11/7/1952

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.131 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 266
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983 p 62)
4. 208 AFS ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/11/1951 to 31/5/1954: National Archives (PRO Kew) flie AIR 29/2147 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101857
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT233/103: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C424224
6. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/32/S2585: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6578431
7. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VF
8. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH100%20prodn%20list.txt

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-Mar-2013 21:53	Dr. John Smith	Added
04-Dec-2018 20:11	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Location, Nature, Operator]
31-Dec-2019 18:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative]
31-Dec-2019 18:41	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
01-Jan-2020 08:59	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Operator]
10-Jan-2020 20:32	stehlik49	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Operator]
03-May-2020 16:38	Anon.	Updated [Narrative]
15-Mar-2021 15:45	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
15-Mar-2021 17:27	Quenten74	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]