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| Date: | Friday 28 November 1941 |
| Time: | 11:40 LT |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide |
| Owner/operator: | 10 AOS (Air Observers School) RAF |
| Registration: | X7402 |
| MSN: | 6562 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Calfclose Bay, Derwent Water, Cumberland -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Dumfries, Dumfries |
| RAF Dumfries, Dumfries |
C/no. 6562: Taken on charge as X7402 under Contract No B.104592/40 at 18 MU RAF Dumfries 4.9.41. (2 x Gipsy Queen III engines #70138/70140) To 10 AOS, (Air Observers' School) RAF Dumfries 13.9.41; coded ‘A8’.
Written off (destroyed) 28.11.41: This 10 A.O.S. aircraft was being flown on a training flight which took the aircraft over the northern Lake District. At 11.40hrs the aircraft was being exceptionally low over Derwent Water when a wing tip of wheel clipped the water causing the aircraft to cartwheel. Six crew members were killed in the crash that occurred around 600 yards from the east shore in Calfclose Bay.
Pilot - Sgt Cedric Gordon Allen Tabor RAFVR (1051995), aged 22, of Bare, Morecambe, Lancashire. Buried Troqueer Cemetery, Dumfries, Scotland.
Observer (U/T) - LAC James Edward Barry Hards RAF (657558), aged 23. Buried Dumfries RC Cemetery, Scotland.
Observer (U/T) - LAC James Ward RAF (657968), aged 29. Buried Leeds Roman Catholic Cemetery, Yorkshire (Scn Wall BT/14).
Observer (U/T) - LAC Dennis James Laidman RAFVR (1318658), aged 21, of North Finchley, London. Buried St.Pancras Cemetery, London (6D/61).
Observer (U/T) - LAC Ronald Frederick George Griffin RAFVR (1338278), aged 19, of Swindon. Buried Swindon Burial Ground, Wiltshire.
Observer (U/T) - LAC Leonard Morris RAFVR (1501436), aged 19, of Leeds, Yorkshire. Buried Leeds (Hill Top) Jewish Cemetery, commemorated Leeds Gelderd Road English Hebrew Cemetery.
It took some time to recover the bodies of those killed. Morris, Tabor and Hards were recovered on 4th December 1941, Ward was recovered on 10th December 1941 and Laidman was recovered on 6th January 1942.
Leonard Morris' grave is technically "lost" according to the CWGC database. It is not a lost burial location but do to mining subsidence the cemetery has been closed so the CWGC are unable to care for his grave and a special memorial is being created for those buried in the Hill Top Jewish cemeteries. Similarly James Ward's grave location appears to be unmarked as he is commemorated on a memorial wall in Leeds RC Cemetery.
DH.89 X7402 was formally struck off charge 10.12.41 as Cat. E(FA).
Sources:
1. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh89.pdf
2. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p065.html
3. http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/lakes/x7402.html
4. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?4188&p=23227#23227
5. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh89a-dragon-rapide-near-keswick-6-killed
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2715362/tabor,-cedric-gordon-allen/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2715252/hards,-james-edward-barry/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2408950/ward,-james/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2432604/laidman,-dennis-james/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2710250/griffin,-ronald-frederick-george/
11. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2408567/morris,-leonard/
12. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/69219868/cedric_gordon_allen-tabor
13. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/174538220/leonard-morris
14. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24723878/dennis-james-laidman
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derwentwater
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Mar-2019 22:04 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 11-Mar-2019 22:06 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, ] |
| 13-Mar-2019 08:45 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator, ] |
| 15-Mar-2025 15:44 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ] |
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