Date:	Monday 7 February 1938
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Gladiator Mk I
Owner/operator:	72 Sqn RAF
Registration:	K7934
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Riplingham, 4 miles north of Brough, Yorkshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Church Fenton, North Yorkshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Gloster Gladiator Mk. I K7934 of 72 Squadron, RAF Written off 7.2.38: On 7th February 1938 this 72 Squadron aircraft took off from Church Fenton airfield to undertake a training flight. The purpose of the flight is given in the squadron records as being a camera gun exercise. During the flight the aircraft flew into high tension wires near Riplingham and crashed, the wreckage caught fire and sadly the pilot was killed. A farmer worker who witnessed the crash attempted to rescue the pilot but sustained burns to his legs in the attempt.

Crew:
Pilot - P/O Alfred Alexander Devany RAF, aged 23, of West Hampstead. Buried Kensal Green Cemetery, Kensal Green, London.

According to a contemporary report 'Flight' magazine (10 February 1938 page 141 - see link #8)

"P/O Alfred Alexander Devany lost his life in an accident which occurred near Brough, Yorkshire, on February 7, to an aircraft of No.72 (Fighter) Squadron, Church Fenton, near Tadcaster, Yorkshire. P/O Devany was sole occupant of the aircraft."

K7934 was delivered to 72 Squadron on 26.5.37, and was formally struck off charge on 1.4.38. Total time on airframe 107.20 hours. Devany was born in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, to a British father and Russian mother, and they moved to the United Kingdom from Baku, Azerbaijan, in September 1918. He was granted a Short Service Commission with the RAF in July 1936 and sent to 5 FTS at Sealand for his flying training.

A few weeks later, he was transferred to 7 FTS at Peterborough, where he was awarded his Wings in late October and graduated in late February 1937. He was posted to his first operational unit, 41 (F) Squadron at Catterick, Yorkshire, on 21 February 1937, but was re-posted, to 72 (F) Squadron at Church Fenton, on 22 March.

Riplingham is a hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Beverley and 3 miles (4.8 km) east of South Cave, on the crossroads that link (broadly speaking) South Cave, Welton, North Newbald and Raywell. Riplingham is part in the civil parish of Rowley and part in the civil parish of South Cave.

1. Air-Britain: The K File - The RAF of the 1930s
2. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1939.htm
3. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/05710.php
4. http://www.worldnavalships.com/directory/aircrewprofile.php?AircrewID=11756
5. http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/gladiator_raf_72.htm
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?21691-Plt-Off-Alfred-Alexander-Devany
7. Swift to Battle: 1937-1942 By Tom Docherty (page 21)
8. (paywall) https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1938/1938%20-%200385.PDF
9. https://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york38/k7934.html
10. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/149959255/alfred-alex-devany
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riplingham

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
13-Oct-2009 17:00	JINX	Added
15-Jan-2012 02:42	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative, ]
06-Jul-2013 13:43	JINX	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative, ]
17-Jul-2013 19:43	JINX	Updated [Source, ]
03-Aug-2013 16:28	Nepa	Updated [Operator, ]
04-Aug-2013 15:05	JINX	Updated [Operator, ]
08-Oct-2013 06:20	JINX	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, ]
04-Jun-2015 21:22	Angel dick one	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative, ]
16-Feb-2018 22:12	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ]
09-Mar-2018 22:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]
14-Apr-2020 15:59	Reno Raines	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator, ]
19-May-2024 10:09	Nepa	Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator, ]
06-Aug-2025 07:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, Category, ]