Date:	Wednesday 16 December 1953
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 8
Owner/operator:	56 (Punjab) Sqn RAF
Registration:	WA930
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Horseheath, 5 miles South West of Great Thurlow, Essex -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:	RAF Duxford, Cambridgeshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.8 WA930 of 56 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) 16 December 1953. Four Meteors of 56 Squadron were acting in two sections of two on a cine-gun camera sortie from their base at RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire. The aircraft all attempted to return to their base at Waterbeach and land, but after two missed approaches, they diverted to RAF Duxford, Cambridgeshire, where two GCA (Ground Controlled Approaches) were unsuccessful

All four aircraft were abandoned when they out of fuel in bad weather; Meteor WA930 crashed near Horseheath, 5 miles South West of Great Thurlow, Essex. According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Cambridge Daily News" 16 December 1953):

"Four meteor jet fighters crashed in the Duxford area; three pilots parachuted to safety and one was pulled from his wrecked plane by farm workers. They were on a training flight from Waterbeach airfield and were not in collision in the air before crashing. It is possible the pilots abandoned their machines after running short of fuel. It is the second time that a plane has crashed at White House Farm, West Wickham; a Meteor came down at the back of the farm just before harvest".

According to one published source (see link #4)

"As if history was to repeat itself, the bad weather that had brought disaster upon the bombers of the RAF’s Bomber Command on ‘Black Thursday‘ (RAF Bourn) ten years earlier also brought havoc to 56 Sqn on December 16th 1953.

With visibility down to a little as 100 yards on the Tuesday, Wednesday saw some improvements. With flying restricted to four aircraft per flight, it was going to be difficult. The Cathode Ray Direction Finding equipment (C.R.D.F.) was not working and so bearings needed to be obtained by VHF. Whilst the majority of aircraft were able to land using a Ground-Controlled Approach (G.C.A.) ‘A’ flight were not so lucky. Red Section were diverted to Duxford, but failed to achieve a landing.

Being too low on fuel to continue on or try for a third time, the two aircraft climbed to 5,000 feet and the pilots, Flt Lt. G. Hoppitt and Flying Officer R. Rimmington ejected. Fuel gauges at the time were reading as little as 20 Gallons.

Both aircraft came down near to each other, no damage was caused to public property and both pilots were unhurt. Yellow section, also diverted to Duxford, where they attempted G.C.A. landings also, but unable to do so, the section leader, Flying Officer N. Weerasinghe suffered a broken neck and fractured skull after he force landed in a field.

The fourth pilot, Flying Officer Martin, broke his back in two places after ejecting at only 700 feet. A court of enquiry ruled that three of the pilots had difficulty in jettisoning their canopies, and Flying Officer Martin, even though he managed to succeed, ejected at an all time low-level.

It was well into the New Year before Flying Officer Weerasinghe regained consciousness, and all four aircraft, WA769, WH510, WA930 and WH283 were written off. In a light-hearted but perhaps tasteless ‘that’s how its done‘ demonstration, both Flight Lt. Hoppitt and Flying Officer Rimmington jumped off the bar at a Pilot’s party in the Bridge Hotel."

Crew of Meteor WA930
Flight Lieutenant (204836) G.F.W. Hoppitt RAF (pilot, aged 28) - ejected safely, parachuted down OK.

The pilot not only survived this incident, but later rose through the ranks to become a Flight Lieutenant, was awarded the AFC (Air Force Cross), and retired from the RAF on 27 March 1968

Meteor WA930 came down to earth near Horseheath, a village in Cambridgeshire, England, situated a few miles south-east of Cambridge, between Linton and Haverhill, on the A1307 road at approximate co ordinates 52.100°N 0.352°E

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.153 ISBN 0-85130-290-4
2. Air Britain RAF Aircraft WA100 - WZ999
3. Last Take off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950-53 by Colin Cummings p 436
4. https://aviationtrails.wordpress.com/2018/12/16/raf-waterbeach-a-period-of-change-part-3/
5. 56 Squadron ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/1/1951 to 31/12/1955: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2620/1 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8424700
6. https://archive.org/stream/WaterbeachScrapbook1897To1990/Waterbeach+Scrapbook+1897+to+1990_djvu.txt
7. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WA
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseheath
9. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/44562/supplement/4156/data.pdf

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-May-2008 20:12	JINX	Added
15-Jan-2012 15:05	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Phase, Source, Narrative]
09-Dec-2013 16:35	TB	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
04-Jan-2020 23:46	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
05-Jan-2020 09:46	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Operator]
23-May-2021 17:36	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
24-May-2021 22:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
24-May-2021 22:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
24-May-2021 23:02	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
25-May-2021 14:49	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Narrative]