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Registration or Serial: PH404
Operator:
RAF; (311 (Czech)
Squadron; RAF 18 Grp Coastal Ops)
Operating Base:
RAF Tain (X6TA)
Base
Location:
Tain, Ross-Shire, Scotland
Current Airport Status:
Airfield closed in 1946 and returned to agricultural use. Some
derelict buildings remain. For photos,
click here.
Current Airport Name:
RAF Tain; Air Weapons Range (AWR); (A large bombing range,
which covers a part of the former airfield and the Moray Firth)
(Principal airport data courtesy of
John Woodside,
A
Catalogue of UK Airfields)
Aircraft Type Nickname:
"Ox-Box"
Aircraft Type & Background
The Airspeed Oxford was developed from
of 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 aircraft 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 air crew for entry
into RAF Bomber Command.
At least eight variants of the Airspeed
Oxford were produced. In addition to those produced 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 an 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 Mk 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
hillwalkers came across
the wreckage of the Airspeed Oxford while climbing Beinn
a' Bhuird in the Cairngorms. Only then, was the fate of
the aircraft realised and the recovery of the missing
airmen's bodies commenced.
The RAFVR Czech air crew who died in this accident
were:
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 in
the box above.
A memorial was placed at the crash site on Beinn a' Bhuird
on 18th September 2005.
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