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| Date: | Monday 9 March 1936 |
| Time: | 07:15 LT |
| Type: | Hawker Audax Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 26 Squadron, RAF |
| Registration: | K3076 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Atley Hill, near Scorton, North Yorkshire, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Catterick, North Yorkshire |
| RAF Catterick, North Yorkshire |
Hawker Audax I K3076, 26 Sqn, RAF Catterick, North Yorkshire: Written off (destroyed) 9/3/36 when crashed in bad weather, at Atley Hill, near Scorton, North Yorkshire.
Just after sunrise on 9th March 1936 this 26 Squadron aircraft took off from Catterick airfield in poor weather. By 07.15hrs the aircraft was flying around four miles north east of the airfield and was flying in rain and thick fog, it was heard to pass over the Scorton Road Farm shortly before it dived into a field at around 07.15hrs near the farm, just west of Atley Hill; between Scorton and North Cowton. Sadly, both airmen were killed in the crash which also killed a number of sheep. A farm worker believed that he heard the engine to have been failing just prior to the crash but the RAF carried out an examination of the engine, and they could not find a problem with it. There appears to have been a suggestion that it was suspected the pilot had suffered from lack of oxygen and may have lost consciousness just prior to the crash.
Crew of K3076:
Flying Officer Robert LEGG (who was also a Lieutenant, 1st Battalion, Kings Own Scottish Borderers)
Flying Officer Peter GODFREY (who was also a Lieutenant, in the Royal Artillery)
Both crew members were buried at Catterick Cemetery, North Yorkshire.
According to a contemporary newspaper report (Singapore Morning Tribune, 10 March 1936, Page 1 - see link #4):
"Ex-Singapore R.A.F. Man Killed
London, March 9.
FLYING Officer Peter Godfrey, formerly of the Royal Artillery, and stationed at Singapore until last year, when he joined the R.A-F., was killed with Flying Officer Robert Legg in a crash at Atley Hill, Yorkshire. (Reuters)"
Peter Godfrey was the son of Captain Cortlandt Drew Godfrey and was born in Neath in 1911. As a young man he was educated at Cheltenham and then trained at Sandhurst College. He then served in the Royal Artillery being stationed in Singapore before returning to the UK in the mid 1930s. He appears to have trained as a pilot as a civilian, possibly at the Reading Aero Club and gained a Royal Aero Club flying certificate. He was seconded for duty with the RAF on 21st January 1935 and granted a commission in the RAF to the rank of Flying Officer. He was then posted to 26 Squadron on 23rd August 1935. His father had taken up flying in 1930 and obtained a pilot's Royal Aero Club flying certificate, he would run the Briton Ferry Tinplate Company of Neath.
Robert Legg had previously served in the King's Own Scottish Borderers in the early 1920s. While serving in the K.O.S.B. he was granted a temporary commission in the RAF (for four years) to the rank of Flying Officer 3rd January 1924. A few days later on 12th January 1924 he was posted to 4 Flying Training School in Egypt for pilot training and was then posted to 208 Squadron in Egypt on 28th December 1924. He relinquished his commission in the RAF, on return to Army duty, on 3rd January 1928. On 30th September 1935 (with seniority of 30th September 1931) he was re-seconded for RAF duty being granted the rank of F/O again and was then posted to 26 Squadron on 21st October 1935.
The crash location of Atley Hill is a hamlet in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the B1263 road between the A167 and the village of Scorton.
Sources:
1. Air-Britain the K File the RAF of the 1930s
2. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1937.htm
3. https://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york36/k3076.html
4. Singapore Morning Tribune, 10 March 1936, Page 1 at http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/morningtribune19360310-1.2.3
5. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173584655/robert-legg
6. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173584654/peter-godfrey
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._26_Squadron_RAF#Between_the_wars
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Catterick#Royal_Air_Force_flying_units_(1914_-_1946)
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atley_Hill
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Feb-2008 04:38 | JINX | Added |
| 26-Jan-2012 14:49 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, ] |
| 14-Jul-2013 03:12 | JINX | Updated [Operator, Source, ] |
| 02-Mar-2018 13:47 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 06-Apr-2018 13:21 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 10-Nov-2018 07:21 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator, ] |
| 16-May-2024 18:06 | Nepa | Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator, ] |
| 28-Jul-2025 17:13 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ] |
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