July 21, 2016 at 6:21 pm
I came across the attached photograph in the collection of the French National Library. There it is entitled only ‘aviation accident in London’. It appears to date from the 1930s. By a process of deduction, it appears that the photograph depicts Gipsy Moth G-ABTS. By reference to the registration mark on the upper mainplanes, the first, second and fifth letters of that appear to be G, A and S. The fourth letter appears to be J or T. And if it was taken pre-war, the third letter must be A, B, C, D, E or F. The only permutations arising therefrom, which produce an aircraft compatible with the photograph, are G-AAJS and G-ABTS, both of which are Gipsy Moths. As G-AAJS appears, with the exception of a two month spell in 1931, to have spent all of its life in the Newcastle area, G-ABTS would appear to be the most probable candidate. This perception is borne out by reference to the A-B DH 60 production list file, which records that G-ABTS ‘crashed on to a house in Whitchurch Gardens, Edgware 22.9.32 (or 21.9.32)’. Despite being accident prone – it suffered three accidents before ‘biting the dust’ – it survived to be impressed in 1940 (as did G-AAJS) but does not appear to have survived the war (which, again, is something it appears to have in common with G-AAJS). So does the photograph show G-ABTS? And is it the September 1932 accident in Edgware that it depicts? Does anyone know anything about this accident? I shall be most grateful to anyone who may be able to shed light upon it.