Date:	Monday 14 November 1938
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Gauntlet Mk II
Owner/operator:	151 Sqn RAF
Registration:	K7866
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Pitts Head crossroads, Handcross, nr Warninglid, West Sussex, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF North Weald, Essex
Destination airport:	RAF Tangmere, West Sussex

Narrative:
Gloster Gauntlet Mk.II K7866, 151 Squadron, RAF North Weald, Essex: Written off 14/11/38 when engine failed & Damaged Beyond Repair in forced landing after hitting bank & overturning at Pitts Head crossroads, near Handcross, Warninglid, West Sussex. According to a contemporary newspaper report ("West Sussex County Times" - Friday 18 November 1938):

"PILOT ESCAPES UNHURT WHEN PLANE CRASHES
Machine Wrecked in Forced Landing at Handcross. A single-sealer Gloucester fighter belonging to the Fighter Squadron, North Weald, Essex, one of six which were flying to Tangmere, near Chichester, made a forced landing, on Monday afternoon, in a field south of the Pitshead crossroads, near Handcross.

The pilot, Pilot-Officer D H Ward (Derek Harland Ward 40786 from New Zealand), had a remarkable escape. Engine failure caused the pilot to lose height rapidly, and after clearing some high trees he saw a large field belonging to Mr. Bonner Morris, below him. The undercarriage struck a low hedge and the ’plane turned upside down, one of the wheels being flung a distance of feet. If the pilot had been able raise the ’plane a few inches higher he would have cleared the hedge.

Pilot-Officer Ward spent some anxious moments while he struggled to release himself from the inverted cockpit, which was only about two feet from the ground. Fortunately. fire did not break out, and he escaped apparently none the worse for the adventure. Police stood guard over the ’plane while the pilot notified the R.A.F. authorities. A “West Sussex County Times” reporter who took a photograph of the wrecked machine, had his film confiscated."

The "West Sussex County Times" report contains a number of errors as to the location of this crash. If it occurred near the Pitts Head (not Pitshead) crossroads, that was on the Warninglid to Cuckfield road (Cuckfield Lane - now the B2115) where this now crosses over the A23 on a bridge (and thus, since the A23 was upgraded, it is no longer is a 'crossroads' in the traditional sense), quite some distance south of Handcross. I have tried to locate the crash site more specifically, by reference to the 'large field belonging to Mr Bonner Morris', but without success. But as it occurred 'in a field south of Pitshead crossroads', the most likely candidate is Hazeldean Farm.

Wreck to RNAS Ford, Arundel, West Sussex. To Ground Instructional airframe at Locking. Struck Off Charge 10 January 1939; total flying time on airframe 334.40 hours

1. Air-Britain The K File The RAF of the 1930s (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1995 p185)
2. West Sussex County Times - Friday 18 November 1938
3. http://mmpbooks.biz/gauntlet/AppendixGauntlet.pdf
4. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=13351.0
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Harland_Ward#RAF_career
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=119133
7. https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C19070 ...

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Oct-2009 15:25	JINX	Added
04-Feb-2012 09:05	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Source, ]
18-Jul-2013 05:02	JINX	Updated [Operator, Source, ]
13-Aug-2013 14:33	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Narrative, ]
14-Aug-2013 21:43	JINX	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative, ]
20-Sep-2014 08:05	Jixon	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, ]
10-Nov-2014 15:11	Gerrard	Updated [Location, ]
19-Mar-2018 18:04	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ]
06-Oct-2018 05:43	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator, ]
18-Feb-2020 01:32	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative, ]
18-Feb-2020 01:33	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]
18-Feb-2020 01:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]
18-Feb-2020 01:35	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]
06-Jul-2020 16:40	pommehomme	Updated [Location, Narrative, ]
18-Jul-2020 20:21	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Narrative, ]
08-Sep-2020 08:48	db	Updated [Location, Destination airport, Operator, ]