Date:	Thursday 27 March 1947
Time:	day
Type:	Avro Anson Mk I
Owner/operator:	3 SFTS RAF
Registration:	LV209
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Wain Hill, 4 miles SW of Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Feltwell, Norfolk
Destination airport:	RAF Halton, Buckinghamshire

Narrative:
Avro Anson Mk.1 LV209 "FBQ-A", 3 SFTS (Service Flying Training School) RAF: Written off (destroyed) when crashed into a wooded hillside in adverse weather conditions at Wain Hill, 4 miles South West of Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire on 27 March 1949 killing all three crew

The crew was engaged in a training sortie from RAF Feltwell, Thetford, Norfolk to RAF Halton, Wendover, Buckinghamshire. While cruising in marginal weather conditions (low cloud and heavy rain), the twin engine aircraft hit the slope of a wooded hillside, located 12 miles south of Aylesbury. All three crew members were killed and the aircraft was destroyed. It appears that the crew did not prepare the mission properly and failed to ask about meteorological conditions prior to the flight. The crew did not take advantage of their radio systems and at the time of the accident, radio contacts with local ATC based at RAF Halton were difficult.

According to a contemporary local newspaper report (Bucks Advertiser & Aylesbury News, 2 May 1947):

AIRCRAFT CRASH ON HILL
Pilot May Have Tried to Get Below Fog Bank
Sub/Lieut. Reginald Ernest Northfield . of Ashtead Surrey, and Sub/Lieut. Maruice, Georg. Lecocq Barnes, of Swanage, were on a training flight from Feltwell, Norfolk, were killed instantly when the aircraft crashed. Northfield and' Barnes were on instructional training. This was stated at the resumed inquest"
Crew of Anson LV209:
F/O Ivor Thomas Arthur Leaversuch (163196) pilot RAF : killed
Sub-Lt (A) Reginald Ernest Northfield (HMS Daedalus, RNAS Lee on Solent) RN : killed
Lt Maurice George Lecocq Barnes (HMS Daedalus, RNAS Lee on Solent) RN : killed

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.289
3. The Anson File (Ray Sturdivant, Air Britain, 1988 p 105)
4. Bucks Advertiser & Aylesbury News 2 May 1947 (Report of the Inquest into the crew deaths)
5. 3 SFTS RAF ORB for the period 1-1-1946 to 31-12-1950: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR29/1812: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4101522
6. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-avro-652-anson-i-near-aylesbury-3-killed
7. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=26457
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2436929/leaversuch,-ivor-thomas-arthur/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2434127/northfield,-reginald-ernest/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2709258/barnes,-maurice-george-le-cocq/
11. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56625095/ivor-thomas-leaversuch
12. https://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1947-01JAN.htm
13. https://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?23990-470328-Unaccounted-Airmen-28-03-1947&highlight=LEAVERSUCH&p=139593#post139593
14. https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/wain-hill-wycombe

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
26-Apr-2013 05:01	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Nature, Source, Narrative, ]
28-Apr-2019 11:40	Anon.	Updated [Narrative, ]
07-Nov-2019 22:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]
12-Nov-2019 23:21	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator, ]
19-May-2023 20:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated
22-May-2023 19:13	Dr. John Smith	Updated
01-Jun-2024 18:19	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative, Operator, ]