Airspeed Oxford PH404

Beinn a' Bhuird, Cairngorms

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Operator/Nationality

Operating Country

UK (RAF)

Squadron Nationality

Czech

MediaCredit

Acknowledgement

Many thanks to Alan Leishman for kindly providing photos for this aircraft page.

Copyright Notice

All photos remain the property of their respective authors and may not be reproduced elsewhere without their prior written permission.

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Moderate hill climb across rising moorland / hill slopes with some steep elevations. Involves areas of rough ground and loose rock. A 6.5km downgraded vehicle track to Beinn a' Bhuird is available.

All high ground areas are subject to fluctuating weather conditions, including snow, ice and mist. Map / compass essential. GPS advised.

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Aircraft Type Photo

BELOW: An Airspeed AS.10 Oxford. This aircraft belonged to the Belgian Air Force (now, Belgian Air Component or COMOPSAIR)

Airspeed AS10 Oxford on display

Photo: 2006. Released by the author under GNU Free Documentation License

Aircraft Type and Background

RAF Airspeed AS.10 Oxford Mk II / PH404

Aircraft Type Nickname: "The Ox-Box"

The Airspeed Oxford was developed from the Airspeed AS.6 Envoy commercial aircraft as an RAF trainer. The Oxford was equipped with two 355hp - 375hp seven cylinder air-cooled Armstrong-Siddeley Cheetah IX or X radial engines.

Essentially, this was a 3-seater aircraft, but provision was made for up to 6 crew. The Oxford was equipped with dual controls for pilot training purposes, but these could be removed for bombardier training.

Several other crew training roles were also covered by the Airspeed Oxford, preparing aircrew for entry into RAF Bomber Command.

At least 8 variants of the Airspeed Oxford were produced. In addition to those manufactured by Airspeed Ltd., some of these aircraft were built by sub-contractors such as de-Havilland, Percival, and Standard Motors. The Mark I Oxford was equipped with an Armstrong-Whitworth dorsal turret, but all subsequent variants lacked this feature.

In addition to their role as advanced trainers, Oxfords were used as communications, anti-aircraft, and anti-submarine aircraft; and also as air ambulances.

Aircraft Accident Details

On 10th January 1945, this Mark II Airspeed Oxford took off from RAF Tain in north-east Scotland. On board were a Czech crew, including three pilots. These, and some other airmen, had completed their tour of duty and were flying south to RAF Hornchurch for a break in London. Also on board was a fourth pilot who had been assigned to fly the aircraft back to RAF Tain from Hornchurch.

The Oxford trainer left Tain in good weather and cloudless conditions. However, before long, communications with the aircraft were lost. Eventually, when the aircraft failed to arrive at Hornchurch and had not been reported at any other airfield, a search began. No trace of the Oxford could be found, however, and initially it was believed that it had crashed into the sea.

Over 7 months later—on 19th August 1945—two hill walkers came across the wreckage of the Airspeed Oxford almost on the summit of Stob an t-Sluichd while climbing the Beinn a' Bhuird range in the Cairngorms. Only then was the fate of the aircraft realised and the recovery of the missing airmen's bodies commenced.

Aircraft Crew Casualties

Sadly, all five RAFVR Czech aircrew perished in this accident. These were:

Sqn Ldr Karel Kvapil (26), Pilot
F/O Leo Linhart (32), Pilot
F/O Jan Vella DFC (39), Pilot
F/O Valter Kauders (26), Wireless Operator / Air Gunner
W/O Rudolph Jelen (22), Pilot

The airmen's bodies were laid to rest in Brookwood Military Cemetery (Czech Section) in Woking, Surrey. The individual locations can be determined by clicking on the hyperlinks under the names above.

A memorial was placed at the crash site on Stob an t-Sluichd (Beinn a' Bhuird) on 18th September 2005.

Crash Site Photos

BELOW: The two Armstrong-Siddeley Cheetah engines from Airspeed Oxford PH404.

The memorial can just be seen at the upper right of this picture.

The two Armstrong-Siddeley Cheetah engines from Airspeed Oxford PH404

BELOW: The impact point and debris field.

The aircraft just missed clearing the summit by around 3m / 10ft [A.L.]

The impact point and debris field.

Photo Gallery

At the moment, there are no additional photos of this crash site in the Photo Gallery.

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Crash Date / Site

Accident Date: 10 Jan 1945

Accident Site:

Stob an t-Sluichd

(3,621m / 11,879ft)

(NE of Beinn a' Bhuird in Caingorms National Park)

Region: Aberdeenshire

Nearest town or village:

Allanaquoich or

Braemar

Nearest large town or city:

Aberdeen (E) or Dundee (S)

OS Grid Ref. N/A

GPS Ref: N/A

Present Condition: Due to its inaccessibility for recovery vehicles, the aircraft remains were burnt onsite by recovery teams from RAF Dyce (Aberdeen). However, significant wreckage remains at the location, including both engines and a wing section.