Can anyone help find some details of this accident, please?
Dickie was an old Beaumont boy who joined the RAF some time prior to 1954/5.
It is thought that he died in a Meteor accident during this period.
From the Armed Forces Memorial “Roll of Honour”, the only Collingwood mentioned is:
Richard Anthony Collingwood
Rank: Pilot Officer
Service No:4113900
Station: RAF Middleton St. George
Age: 20
Date of Death: 15 November 1954
I cannot find any more details than this.
It is possible that this man is not Dickie Collingwood, that Dickie was not flying a Meteor, that the accident that killed this man occurred some time before the date of death.
Some time about the summer of 1954, I was pretending to play cricket and in fact was lying down in the long grass.
Someone thought to be Dickie did a beautiful sequence of acrobatics in a Meteor above the cricket pitch against a cloudless blue sky.
It made a very great impression on me and the memory is still vivid after all these years. Of course, it may not have been Dickie; but there is a good chance it was and I’d like very much to fill in the details of his short RAF career.
Mike
By: paulmcmillan - 14th June 2013 at 08:42
Just a note I looked up the incident in Colin Cummings book ‘Category Five’ and he confirms that Collingwood was in Meteor F.4 VT232 of 4 FTS crashed Dinsdale, York on 15th November 1954
By: paulmcmillan - 13th June 2013 at 22:32
national archives wrong definately 15 nov 1954
By: MikeHoulder - 13th June 2013 at 20:24
Paul, thank you. I think you’ve given me the key
Some paragraphs from http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafvalley/aboutus/4ftshist.cfm
“In the early 50s, the purpose of the Advanced Flying Schools had been to provide an intermediate step for aircrew between the Flying Training School and the Operational Conversion Unit, thereby ensuring a smoother transition from training-aircraft to operational types. The AFSs had also performed the earlier role of the Advanced Flying Units in that pupils trained with the Empire Training Scheme in Canada and Southern Rhodesia were retrained in an European environment.
The restructuring of the RAF flying training scheme necessitated the renumbering of the AFSs so that on 1 June 1954 No 205 AFS at Middleton St George, Co Durham, operating Meteor F4s and T7s was renumbered No 4 FTS. Commanded by Gp Capt H S Darley, DSO, the Unit provided many National Service pilots, mainly undergraduates, with their first taste of jet flying. In fact, the Meteor proved to be a great trainer and matured the young pilots in a remarkably short time. In January 1955, following the introduction into RAF service of the de Havilland Vampire T 11, 2-seat advanced jet trainer, the School’s role was changed. Pupils already qualified for their flying badges, having first completed their 130 hours basic flying training in the piston-engined Provost T1, came to No 4 FTS for a further 110 hours of advanced training on jet aircraft. No 100 (Pilot) course was the first course to complete their training at the School under the Provost/Vampire scheme and graduated in September 1955.”
“In the early 50s, the purpose of the Advanced Flying Schools had been to provide an intermediate step for aircrew between the Flying Training School and the Operational Conversion Unit, thereby ensuring a smoother transition from training-aircraft to operational types. The AFSs had also performed the earlier role of the Advanced Flying Units in that pupils trained with the Empire Training Scheme in Canada and Southern Rhodesia were retrained in an European environment.”
Thanks to your info “VT232”, I’ve a ref to the accident report “BT 233/248: Meteor 4, VT232: near Middleton St. George, Durh., 5 Nov. 1954” in the National Archives. The report is not digitised, so cannot be downloaded. There is a difference in the date, 5th Nov not 15th Nov.
I think that it is now 99% certain that Dickie is Richard Anthony Collingwood and the date of the accident is 5th Nov 1954.
The main questions in my mind now:
1. When did Dickie join 205 AFS or 4 FTS?
2. What was the training syllabus during that period?
3. What are the main points of his RAF career? Was he a national service entrant or otherwise? When was he commisioned? etc.
Mike
By: paulmcmillan - 13th June 2013 at 17:51
Is suggest it is this incident
15.11.54 Meteor F.4 VT232 of 4 FTS crashed Dinsdale, Yorks when it Lost power after take-off at night and flew into ground near Middleton St.George (1 Killed)
Richard A Collingwood death registered at Northallerton so looks likely
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June 13, 2013 at 3:25 pm