400422 - Unaccounted Airmen 22-4-1940

[Ross_McNeill]

Another thread on the old board that has passed into archive

Dragon - X9399 - 7 AACU - crashed on take-off Castle Bromwich

F1180 gives two fatalities and confirms Sgt Bevan as pilot.

Regards
Ross

[davew]

A bit more;

The death of Charles AL Bevan aged 25 is registered at Birmingham; on the same page is Cyril Parkin aged 20 who CWGC confirms as being 637487 AC2 Parkin Cyril aged 20.

regards
DaveW

[Ross_McNeill]

Hi Dave ,

The F1180s show 1 killed 1 injured.

It is possible that the AC2 is a delayed death not corrected on the 1180 but for the moment it's a pencil link until someone comes up with a more concrete link.

Regards
Ross

[davew]

Ross ,

your first post says 'two fatalities'. Are we still talking about the Dragon?

DaveW

[Ross_McNeill]

Oops.

Got mixed up with an email that I was answering off board (the reason the reel was on the reader).

I confirm 2 fatalities on the Dragon.

Bevan confirmed and AC2 Parkin most probable.

Sorry about that
Ross

[Walton R A]

I can confirm that the second airman killed on 22.4.1940 was 637487 AC2 Parkin Cyril. He was my uncle and I have the death certificate.


Robert Walton

[Alex Smart]

Hello,

400422 - Unaccounted Airmen - 22-04-1940

From Henk's List -

CANADA
HALE, Cecil Adrian - Cpl - 54 - RCAF.
Ottawa Notre Dame Cemetery, Ontario, Canada.
POWERS, Hugh Allan - Cpl - 7504 - RCAF
Ottawa ( Beechwood ) Cemetery, Ontario, Canada.
Cause of death of these two airmen ?
Automobile accident with a train. Further details ?

UK
PURVIS, Frederick Edmund Cole - AC2c - 807265 - RAF(AAF).
Barton ( St. Peter ) Churchyard, Durham.
Taken ill and died in Hospital. Further details ?

From CWGC -

UK
BURR, James Orlando - Midshipman (A) - HMS Raven - RN - 759 Sqn.
Haslar Royal Naval Cemetery, Hampshire.
[ Skua - L3044 - 759 Sqn FAA ].

BROWN, Kenneth Admiral - NA1c - FX.77401 - HMS Glorious - RN - 803 Sqn.
Lee-on-Solent Memorial, Hampshire.
[ Skua - Serial number ? - 803 Sqn ].

CUTLER, Thomas George - LA - FX.77748 - HMS Furious - RN - 818 Sqn.
MESSENGER, Charles Robert Dalton - Lt(A) - HMS Furious - RN - 818 Sqn.
These two Naval Airmen were crew of Swordfish - P4163 - 818 Sqn FAA.
They are commemorated, on the Lee-on-Solent Memorial, Hampshire.

COOPER, Ernest - AC2c - 980093 - RAF - 10 BGS.- Drouge Operator.
Beverley ( Queensgate ) Cemetery, Yorkshire.
[ Demon - K4525 - 10 BGS ].

CYSTER, Kenneth John - Lac - 751792 - RAFVR- 10 BGS.
PATTERSON, George William - Lac - 523326 - RAF - 10 BGS.
WILLIAMS, David Raymond - F/O - 42172 - RAF - 10 BGS.
These three airmen are commemorated on the Runnymede Memoir, Hampshire.
They were crew of Overstrand - K8173- 10 BGS.

DOBSON, John Fisher - Lac - 568823 - RAF - 16 OTU.
East Retford Cemetery, Nottinghamshire.
HOLT, Robert - Lac - 570723 - RAF - 16 OTU.
Sheffield ( Tinsley Park ) Cemetery, Yorkshire
These two airmen were crew of Hampden I - L4148 - 16 OTU.

BEVAN, Charles Albert Leslie - Sgt(Pilot) - 565468 - RAF - 6 AACU.
Harefield ( St. Mary ) Churchyard, Middlesex.
PARKIN, Cyril - AC2c - 637487 - RAF - 6 AACU.
Curdworth ( SS. Nicholas and Peter ) Churchyard, Warwickshire.
These two airmen were aboard D.H.Dragon - G-ACPX, ex X9399.

KING, Douglas Stanley - Captain - BOAC. [formerly F/O, RAF(RAFO)].
Heston ( St. Leonard's ) Churchyard, Middlesex.
FO.Derek, E, EVELEIGH
Topsham Cemetery, Exeter Devon.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/116685772/derek-eveleigh
RO. John William, Elliott.
Ryhope Cemetery, Metropolitan Borough of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear.

These three airmen were crew of -
Lockheed Super Electra - 1484 - G-AFKD - BOAC.
https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19400422-0

Alex

[alieneyes]

CANADA
HALE, Cecil Adrian - Cpl - 54 - RCAF.
Ottawa Notre Dame Cemetery, Ontario, Canada.
POWERS, Hugh Allan - Cpl - 7504 - RCAF
Ottawa ( Beechwood ) Cemetery, Ontario, Canada.
Cause of death of these two airmen ?
Automobile accident with a train. Further details ?

Collision between a Sydney (NS) bound freight train and a coupe at a level crossing at Coxheath, NS

Aircraftman Thomas McLean, 30, of Ottawa and Harold Musgrave, 23, of North Sydney, employed by Canadian National Railway as a fireman, injured. The car was owned by Musgrave who was giving the three airmen a ride to their base. 7581 Aircraftman Thomas Begley McLean died on 25 April from pneumonia.

RCMP investigation noted it was snowing heavily at the time and "thought to have been the main reason for the driver of the death car not observing the incoming freight train"

[Andy Marden]

COOPER, Ernest - AC2c - 980093 - RAF - 10 BGS.- Drouge Operator.
Beverley ( Queensgate ) Cemetery, Yorkshire.
[ Demon - K4525 - 10 BGS ].

Alex,
This was a Fairey Seal, K3525. AIR81/2026 quotes the wrong serial:
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16471204
(http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16471204)Andy

[wwrsimon]

Hello

UK
PURVIS, Frederick Edmund Cole - AC2c - 807265 - Harton cemetery, not Barton. His death was reported in the Newcastle Journal & North Mail, April 22nd 1940:

SHIELDS R.A.F. MAN DIES
Taken ill in France and brought to England in January, Frederick Edmund Cole Purvis (20), a member of the R.A.F. and son of Mr. and Mrs. S. Purvis of Sunderland Road, South Shields, has died in Stanmore Hospital, Middlesex.
He joined the Auxiliary Air Force two years ago and went to France soon after war broke out.

Regards

Simon

[Alex Smart]

Hello Andy,
I took the serial number and checked it against this forums database -
http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=K4525
So which is correct I wonder ?
You suggest that it was Seal K3525.
K File has -
K3525
Stalled while dropping drogue and hit ground, Langton Herring, Dorset, 22.4.40; DBF; 1 killed.
While
K4525 it has " to 1694M 13.11.39".

So K3525 looks to be the correct details .
Thanks for this correction.
Alex

[Alex Smart]

http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?13408-400422-Unaccounted-Airmen-22-4-1940

[Andy Marden]

BEVAN, Charles Albert Leslie - Sgt(Pilot) - 565468 - RAF - 6 AACU.
Harefield ( St. Mary ) Churchyard, Middlesex.
PARKIN, Cyril - AC2c - 637487 - RAF - 6 AACU.
Curdworth ( SS. Nicholas and Peter ) Churchyard, Warwickshire.
These two airmen were aboard D.H.Dragon - G-ACPX, ex X9399.


I don't think that G-ACPX ever actually became X9399. It had recently been impressed and still wore its original identity when it was lost.

[jonheyworth]

Frederick Edmund Cole Purvis 807265 , a Driver MT , died in The Royal National Orthopedic Hospital, Stanway, of miliary tuberculosis , with his mother, Mrs. G Purvis of 278 Sunderland Road, Bleadon, at his bedside