Airshows at Manston

A late response, but found details of this appalling accident, that took 12 lives.

This, on the same day that another Mosquito displaying at Lichfield crashed onto a hospital causing a further 12 fatalities.

It is a wonder that air displays were not banned on the spot. Perhaps the recent war had hardened attitudes to loss of life. Slow rolling at low level has taken such a toll over the years.

12 KILLED AT AIR DISPLAY – MOSQUITO CRASHES ON CARS.

MARGATE, Sept.19 1948 ( From our Correspondent )

Twelve persons, including three children, lost their lives when a Mosquito aircraft crashed on a road crowded with occupied cars during a Battle of Britain air display at Manston on Saturday. Three persons are in hospital with multiple burns, and two of them are in a critical condition. Six others were discharged after treatment for burns.
The pilot, whose wife saw the accident, had led a flight of three aircraft in high-speed formation flying before breaking away to give an exhibition of aerobatics. He had twice dived at over 400 m.p.h. and then roared past the public enclosure. Gaining height he began a slow roll from which he did not pull out. The machine crashed on a road crowded with people and cars. The petrol tanks exploded and burning debris was scattered in all directions, setting fire to several cars. The intense heat hampered the work of rescuers and three victims were burnt to death in one car.
One of the victims, Mrs. Gertrude ANDREWS, whose husband is with the R.A.F. in Malta, was cycling along the road with her three-year-old son in a basket on the carrier. Her 11-year-old son was cycling ahead and was unaware that his mother and brother had been killed until later in the day when he reported to police that he could not find them. Mr. Guy FARR, 33, a solicitor, of The Close, Wilmington, Dartford, his wife, and two young children had a fortunate escape. Their car caught fire and they were pulled out by farm workers. After treatment in hospital for burns they were allowed to go home.
The Mayor of Margate, Alderman W. J. PERKINS, to-day opened a fund to assist relatives of victims, and the local branch of the R.A.F. Association has promised a donation from the proceeds of its appeal made during the Battle of Britain week. At Margate Parish Church this morning, when a commemoration service was held to mark the close of Battle of Britain week, two minutes’ silence was observed for the victims.
The following is a list of the dead :-

Miss Marjorie G. D. ASTELL, 42, of Grange Cottage, Chislehurst:
Stuart Graham CHIESMAN, 13, of Calderwood, Chislehurst:
Frances Claire LEWIS, 13, of First Avenue, Kingsgate, near Margate:
Peter Charles SCOTT, 19, of Addiscombe Road, Margate:
Charles Edward TAYLOR, 35, of Marden Avenue, Ramsgate :
Mrs. Muriel LAWRENCE, 48, Dane Valley Road, Margate:
Mrs. Gertrude ANDREWS, 38, of Dane Gardens, Margate, and her son Brent ANDREWS, 3 :
Frederick Edward RUSTIN, 67, of Bletchley Road, Bletchley, Bucks :
Miss Marie ALLAN, 21, of Merrick Square, London, S.E. :
Flight Lieutenant G. H. HANSON, 29, pilot of the aircraft, and
Flight Lieutenant J. MARTIN, 46, of Farnborough, Hants, the navigator.
Source: The Times, Monday, Sept. 20, 1948; pg.4; Issue 51181; col F.

Thanks for that titbit and there’s another interesting piece of local history – Ramsgate Airport, which had a wonderful art deco terminal building long since demolished and a metre or two under a housing estate, I believe.:(

Housing estate and industrial park, apperently there’s a couple of buildings that remained after the airport was closed, but its difficult to work out where they might be now. My father flew from there in the 60’s just prior to closure. I think making a municapal airport was the last forward piece of thinking Ramsgate council had.

This is a story i had heard of, but had no dates or factual evidence, my grandfather attended this show and had mentioned to me there was a crash with a mosquito, apperently it hit a raised underground water resevoir out of the boundries where people were sitting to get a better view. It was just off the road to Margate i beleive.

I have only been able to hear of pre-war air fairs at Ramsgate municipal airport so far.

Thanks for that titbit and there’s another interesting piece of local history – Ramsgate Airport, which had a wonderful art deco terminal building long since demolished and a metre or two under a housing estate, I believe.:(

This is a story i had heard of, but had no dates or factual evidence, my grandfather attended this show and had mentioned to me there was a crash with a mosquito, apperently it hit a raised underground water resevoir out of the boundries where people were sitting to get a better view. It was just off the road to Margate i beleive.

I have only been able to hear of pre-war air fairs at Ramsgate municipal airport so far.

From an airshow accident related thread:

On 18 Sep 1948 3 Mossies were lost:

TE808 Stalled into Battle of Britain crowd after slow roll,killed the crew and several spectators at Manston,Kent.

TA507 No 51 MU Stalled during aerobatic display Lichfield ,Staffs. Crashed on hospital,killing crew and 10 people on the ground.

VA887 No139 Sqdn. Dived into the ground during slow roll Coningsby,Lincs crew killed.

Sorry it was sad news!

Ouch! Indeed.:( We have at least learnt that BoB shows or a show took place there.

From an airshow accident related thread:

On 18 Sep 1948 3 Mossies were lost:

TE808 Stalled into Battle of Britain crowd after slow roll,killed the crew and several spectators at Manston,Kent.

TA507 No 51 MU Stalled during aerobatic display Lichfield ,Staffs. Crashed on hospital,killing crew and 10 people on the ground.

VA887 No139 Sqdn. Dived into the ground during slow roll Coningsby,Lincs crew killed.

Sorry it was sad news!

Hi there sky high, sorry for a lack of reply, i have been offline for a few days, so havn’t seen your post til now.

Unfortunatly i havn’t any infomation regarding pre and post war airshows myself, but i know there was a reasonable amount of activity in that post war period with airshows, i did meet an interesting guy a while back that had a lot of history and photos of the airfield, when i meet him next i shall try to get further infomation from him.

Although there’s not a great deal of info at the airfields museums directly relating to airshows, if you go regularly enough you’ll always bump into someone with some stories!

Hope your quest for infomation gets a bit better!

Thanks my friend – I live in hope. I reckon if noting transpires here it won’t anywhere else. And I haven’t found out much from the volunteers at the museums – yet…..

Hi there sky high, sorry for a lack of reply, i have been offline for a few days, so havn’t seen your post til now.

Unfortunatly i havn’t any infomation regarding pre and post war airshows myself, but i know there was a reasonable amount of activity in that post war period with airshows, i did meet an interesting guy a while back that had a lot of history and photos of the airfield, when i meet him next i shall try to get further infomation from him.

Although there’s not a great deal of info at the airfields museums directly relating to airshows, if you go regularly enough you’ll always bump into someone with some stories!

Hope your quest for infomation gets a bit better!

Hope I am not breaking any rules by reposting on this thread Moderators, but I was surprised not to have a response but that may be because there is little material available or that there were few and unimpressive shows.

As it is now my nearest airfield I am keen to find out as much as I can about it. I was spoilt for many years, having both Old Warden and Duxford short drives away.

Any titbits appreciated.:)