Crashed aircraft St Albans 1955

Patersons farm

By Allen Scott

I remember the crash very clearly. The plane went across the top of the school just missing the roofs, it bounced down the fields, crossed Sanpit Lane and ended up in Patterson’s farm (now houses).

Us lads gathered little bits of debris that had fallen from the plane to keep as souvenirs. We were very disappointed the next morning when the police visited the school and confiscated our trophies.   That was a great school and a lot of characters, pupils and teachers. What memories.

This page was added on 08/02/2015.

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  • I now reside in Australia,& attended Beaumont school in the 50s.I saw the entire crash incident and was interviewed by police and the Advertiser after the crash. I was cleaning up the long jump sandpit behind the gym when I heard the noise of the jet. It was in a near vertical position and just cleared the chimneys and roof. It then dropped like a stone onto the playing fields, took out the rugby posts and vanished out of sight down the slight hill at the back of the fields.I raced down to the crash site with the gym teacher and saw the pilot still strapped in over the other side of the road at the back of the fields I too remember the police asking for souvenirs to be returned at assembly next morning. The headmaster was, I think, Mr Humphries. I have wonderful memories of the school also all those years ago

    By syd horn (20/11/2015)
  • Hi Allen,   I put a short item about this with a photo I took the next day on this site.

    I was upstairs in Mrs Irelands class when this happened.

    By John Halsey (20/02/2015)