ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 172909
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| Date: | Tuesday 24 November 1931 |
| Time: | 09:30 |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.60M Gipsy Moth |
| Owner/operator: | Kenley HQ SF RAF |
| Registration: | K1210 |
| MSN: | 1522 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | RAF Kenley, Whyteleafe, Surrey England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Kenley, Surrey |
| RAF Kenley | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
c/no.1522 DH.60M [Gipsy I]: Taken on charge by the RAF as K1210 by Station HQ Flight RAF Kenley (Fighting Area) 7.5.30. Damaged 4.11.30 in a ground collision with Hawker Horsley J8603 at Biggin Hill, Kent. Repaired and returned to service.
Written off (damaged beyond repair) when collided with 23 Squadron Bristol Bulldog K1677 over RAF Kenley, Whyteleafe, Surrey 24.11.31. The Bulldog was making an approach, coming into land, whilst the Moth was climbing out from Kenley, shortly after take-off. Both crew of the Moth, Flight Lieutenant Ernest Vair Sleigh Lacey (aged 30) and Pilot Officer John Edward Shrimpton (aged 25) killed. The pilot of the Bulldog abandoned the aircraft baling out by parachute, and survived.
According to published sources (see links #4 & #5)
"On 24th November, 1931, Flight Lieutenant Ernest Lacey and Pilot Officer John Edward Shrimpton were both killed when their De Havilland Gypsy Moth 60M (K1210) collided with one of 23 Squadron’s Bristol Bulldogs (K1615), flown by Pilot Officer Frank Stokes, at 9.30am over Kenley Airfield.
The Air Ministry issued the following statement later that day…
'The Air Ministry regrets to announce that as the result of collision in the air at Kenley, Surrey, between a Moth aircraft of Station Headquarters, Kenley, and a Bulldog aircraft of No. 23 Fighter Squadron, Kenley, Flight-Lieut. Ernest Vair Sleigh Lacey (aged 30) and Pilot Officer John Edward Shrimpton (aged 25), the pilot and passenger of the Moth aircraft, lost their lives. Pilot Officer Frank Edmund Stokes, the pilot and sole occupant of the Bulldog aircraft, was not injured'.
Lacey had flown from Biggin Hill to Kenley that morning, with Shrimpton as his passenger, when the collision happened at very low altitude, possibly because the aircraft were in each other’s blind spots or because the pilots were blinded by the glare of the sun. The Moth crashed at the edge of the airfield, killing both men instantly.
Stokes managed a forced landing in the centre of the airfield, overturning the Bulldog, but he was able to walk away from the crash and was met by the ambulance crew. Apart from shock and cuts to the face, he was miraculously uninjured and apparently remarkably calm while he was being treated.
Mr. Len Jones, of Caterham, who was near the aerodrome when the accident happened, said:
'The machines seemed to be converging at only a low height. The Moth struck the other on the top part of the upper ‘plane. There was a report, and then I saw the two machines separate, the Moth crashing to the ground, while the Bulldog carried on to a forced landing. There were very few people about at the time'.
Ernest Vair Sleigh Lacey had served at Kenley for three years, as a wireless officer attached to Station Headquarters. He was in charge of sports and activities at Kenley and was a very popular officer".
John Edward Shrimpton was a Stores Branch Officer at RAF Tangmere and a had played Rugby for Exeter. He lived with his mother at 35 Marlborough Rd, Exeter, and was 25 years old when he died. He was buried in St. Luke’s churchyard, Whyteleafe.
DH 60 Moth K1210 was Struck off charge 2.2.32.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976, page 6)
2. https://ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh60.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p015.html
4. https://www.kenleyrevival.org/content/service-people/flight-lieutenant-ernest-vair-sleigh-lacey
5. https://www.kenleyrevival.org/content/service-people/pilot-officer-john-edward-shrimpton
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?17512-RAF-Fatalities-1931
7. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh60m-gipsy-moth-raf-kenley-2-killed
8. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1934.htm
9. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46634782/john-edward-shrimpton
10. https://www.geni.com/people/Ernest-Lacey/6000000002364951170
11. https://billiongraves.com/grave/JOHN-EDWARD-SHRIMPTON/28087581
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Kenley#History
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Jan-2015 21:18 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 11-Jan-2015 21:19 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 11-Jan-2015 21:23 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date] |
| 11-Jan-2015 21:36 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 12-Feb-2015 14:48 | Yety | Updated [Operator, Location] |
| 28-Aug-2017 14:20 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 25-Nov-2018 16:44 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Location, Operator] |
| 05-Nov-2019 10:17 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Location, Destination airport, Operator] |
| 20-Jul-2021 16:41 | Anon. | Updated [Time, Location, Operator] |
| 13-Jan-2024 10:07 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category] |
| 01-Feb-2024 16:22 | Nepa | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Operator] |
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