30 Sqn crash, 14th November 1935, Hinaidi

[thorne83]

Hello all,

can anyone tell me if they have a record of a 30 Squadron aircraft accident on, or in the days running up to the 14th November 1935 at RAF Hinaidi, Iraq? I am working with the relative of Sgt Alfred Alexander (562394) to piece together his service record, which says he was admitted to General Hospital Hinaidi on that date and it is the family's belief that he was injured in a Wapiti crash, rather than illness.

Cheers, Tom

[COL BRUGGY]

Hello Tom,

I have scoured my copy of, Flat Out:The Story of 30 Squadron Royal Air Force, by John F Hamlin. I can find no mention of 562394 Sgt Alfred ALEXANDER.

I have also checked the appendixes, in particular, the Wapiti IIA aircraft listing. The only thing that comes even close to the date (14-11-1935), that you mention, is; Wapiti IIA K1398 SOC 5-10-1935. (N.F.D.)

Col.

[thorne83]

Thanks for looking Col. I've just been having a brief look on the web and it appears that the Squadron's Wapiti's were being replaced with Hardy's in the Summer of 1935.

Is there a Hardy that matches up anyone?!

Thanks for the help,

Tom

[COL BRUGGY]

Tom,

The first Hardys arrived on 30 Sqn in April 1935. I checked all the Hardys as well. There are no incidents/accidents recorded at all for Hardys in 1935.

Lets see what others have to say.

Col.

[Amrit]

I have scoured The Times, and no accident fits the bill. As we have found from recent threads, the Times were pretty good at reporting such accidents in the Middle East.

A

[paulmcmillan]

I have scoured The Times, and no accident fits the bill. As we have found from recent threads, the Times were pretty good at reporting such accidents in the Middle East.

A

Amrit

Yes but usually only if there is death... In this case it might not have been anything more than a landing accident. maybe not even a right off.. 562394 Flight Sergeant Alfred ALEXANDER was in General Duties branch and later became comissioned so not badly injured...

Careful study of the K File may reveal some more information

[Alex Crawford]

Hi,

I've had a look through the K File and nothing comes up for that date. 30 Sqn did suffer a few accidents but those were in 1936/37.

As part of ongoing research I have ordered a number of Hardy aircraft cards as I am also trying to find out some details on 30 Sqn Hardys.

Alex

[thorne83]

Thanks for looking gents. I'd be interested to know if you find anything out in your research Alex? In the mean time i will try and check through the F1180 cards next time i'm down at Hendon.

Cheers, Tom

[Alex Crawford]

Hi Tom,

I ordered half the Hardy aircraft cards a couple of weeks ago. They usually take about a month to arrive, so I'll let you know as soon as they arrive. I may try and order up some F1180's as well.

I've plenty of info on 6 and 237 Sqn Hardy ops, but very little on 30 Sqn. I have Flat Out:The Story of 30 Squadron Royal Air Force, by John F Hamlin and that's about it so far. I need to order some more ORBs from the NA, but everytime I try they write back telleing me my request is outside their allocated search time. Very frustrating.

Alex

[afcbsimon]

Hi All,

I have complete copies of 30 Sqn's ORB's from around 1930 onwards as my personal interest is their Blenheim years (38-41). Unfortunately the ORB's are some of the worst I have seen for information. Often 1 page covers a year or more with only sparse information.

The page covering the date, Nov 35, starts on 26.3.35 and ends on Oct 36, as I said, sparse!

There is no mention of any crashes or indeed Sgt Alexander.

It does state that the Sqn was re-equipped with Hawker Hardy's as follows:-

A Flight - 30.4.1935
B Flight - 14.8.1935
C Flight - 8.5.1935

At least with this information you can discount the Wapiti for sure.

As well as the ORB's I have a massive collection of 30 Sqn photographs including Hardy's.

Best regards,
Simon

[Alex Crawford]

Hi Simon,

Thanks for the info relating to the ORB content. I would have thought that pre-war ORB's/diarys would have had more detail but I suppose that varied from squadron to squadron.

I'm interested in your Hardy photo's. Could you drop me a line?

Regards,

Alex
acrawford12@sky.com

[paulmcmillan]

Prehaps the Station ORB would be more detailed?

[afcbsimon]

Alex,

I have dropped you an email.

Simon

[Alex Crawford]

Hi Tom,

I received the first batch of Hardy aircraft movement cards today from the RAF Museum. The info they contain in very basic but there were a number of Struck Off Charge dates but none match the date you are looking for. It may have been a minor accident and the aircraft was later repaired.

I'll order the rest of the movement cards later this week and see what they have to offer. Have you tired to order the accident record, AM Form 1180, from the RAF Museum? That may have the info you are looking for.

Alex

[thorne83]

Hi Alex, thanks for checking. I haven't ordered them, but i should be taking a trip down there at some point soon, so i was planning on taking a look then. It could well be that the aircraft returned to service, but fingers crossed there will be an 1180 form!

Cheers, Tom

[Alex Crawford]

Hi Tom,

I found some info here

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/sally.jenkinson/ashmuseum/alexand.htm

for a Flt Lt Alfred Alexander. Not sure if its the same person you are looking for. There are notes about his service carrer and a photocopy of his service record in the History Room.


Hope its of some help.

Alex