Date:	Friday 21 November 1952
Time:	day11.50
Type:	Avro Anson C Mk 19
Owner/operator:	31 Sqn RAF
Registration:	VM327
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Hendon, Middlesex
Destination airport:	RAF St. Athan, Glamorgan, South Wales

Narrative:
Avro Anson C.19 VM327/"CB-R", 31 Sqaudron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) 21/11/1952. Shortly after take-off from Hendon Airfield, (bound for RAF St.Athan) while in the initial climb phase of the flight, the crew informed ground control that the right engine had failed, and they had elected to return to Hendon for an emergency landing. The aircraft lost height and hit tree tops before crashing in a wooded area near Lawrence End, one-and-a-half miles south of Luton Airport, Luton, Bedfordshire All three crew members were killed in the ensuing inferno.

Crew of Anson VM327:
Flight-Lieutenant Joseph Henry FOSTER (pilot) RAF - killed in service 21/11/1952. Aged 34, from Colindale, Middlesex, married with one son. This was his first flight that month.
Master Navigator Flt Sgt Kenneth Milne MOYES (Navigator) RAF - killed in service 21/11/1952. Married with two children, Ken Moyes was 30, from Seaton Sluice, Northumberland,living at the time at Ruislip.
Group Captain Charles Harold Erwin LYSTER MBE (Passenger) RAF - killed in service 21/11/1952, Deputy Director of Movements, Air Ministry, London. A member of the RAF for 20-years who'd been a pre-war pilot in India, Charles - aged 44. lived with his wife at Thames Ditton, Surrey.

Cause of accident: Piston failure.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.130 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-VZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
3. Last Take Off; A Catalogue of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p.311
4. The Anson File (Ray Strurivant, Air Britain, 1988 p.151)
5. A Goldstar Century: 31 Squadron RAF, 1915–2015 By Ian Hall
6. AIR27-2608-49, National Archives.
6. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VM
7. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-avro-652-anson-c19-hendon-3-killed

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
17-Apr-2012 00:15	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
15-Aug-2012 07:58	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport]
30-Mar-2021 14:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
30-Mar-2021 15:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Narrative]
30-Mar-2021 20:34	Harro	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]
02-Dec-2023 15:22	Paul Allonby	Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative]