Thanks both for the additional information. I imagine the main reasoning behind the Gladiator identification was probably one of familiarity. Gladiators were probably quite common around these parts in the 1930s with the Gloster company just up the road. Also the PV4 was most likely unknown to all but a few people anyway so wouldn’t even have been considered. The open vs. closed canopy question is one I’ve thought about myself so that will be one I ask – along with other points you’ve raised here. I’m intending to go into the Rolls Royce Heritage Trust at Filton next week (custodians of the Bristol Aeroplane Company records) to look through more of what they have there just in case there are any clues.

I have actually considered going to the woods with a metal detector – the only remnant I know about is the variable pitch control knob I shared an image of in an earlier post. Would that have been typical of both PV4 and Gladiator? It was actually given to the witness’ father shortly after the accident by a BAC manager in appreciation of the help provided in recovering the wreckage. The crash occurred on their farm land.

Thanks again, this is getting interesting once more!

Andy

I’ve had some recent correspondence from someone who believes he is the last person alive to actually witness this crash. The problem is that he believes he saw a Gloster Gladiator that day whereas my research and the messages in this thread all point to something else. Does anyone have any additional evidence that I could use to pursuade him otherwise? Did the Bristol Aeroplane Company use any Gladiators in the 1930’s? We’re there any based at Filton at this time? Is there anything in the crash photos which indicate it couldn’t be a Gladiator?
Thanks for any help you can give.
Andy

I’ve only just joined this forum after seeing this post. I started this research back in 2003 as I live very close to the crash site in Dursley, Gloucestershire and wrote it up in an article which appeared in our local history journal in 2005, after spending some time collecting evidence by speaking to eye-witnesses, and also contacting various newspapers, archives and aviation groups. I imagine it somehow ended up on this forum via one of those routes. My research has continued over the years, although has taken a back seat, but I’m not sure how I missed this thread which seems to have come up with what appears to be the missing positive identification I was looking for – very exciting! Thank you to Paul for starting it and to everyone for contributing.

My original article investigated three aircraft crashes which occurred in Dursley – Airspeed Oxford L4558 on 15th April 1941, USAAF DH Mosquito, NS638, on 23rd December 1944 and the mystery aircraft discussed here on 25th August 1938. The article includes the original picture shown in this thread and also a photograph of the pilot, Flt Lt R.H. Younghusband, being carried on a makeshift stretcher by the locals who extracted him from the wreckage. I’m including an extract from my article which relates to this crash below.

“… Around 9 o’clock on 25th August 1938 an aeroplane was heard in the vicinity of Woodmancote, Dursley. It was a foggy day and the engine was coughing and spluttering as it came over the Highfields area, then headed off in the direction of Uley before flying back around. Eyewitnesses observed the craft to be a biplane and the pilot was obviously having a real struggle to maintain level flight. In no time at all the aeroplane had lost height and, failing to clear the trees, crashed into the woods above Nunnery Lane. It was utterly destroyed, being all but unrecognisable as the object it had been just minutes before. By an extraordinary stroke of good fortune, the pilot, Flt Lt. Richard Hames Younghusband, based at Filton, survived but was very seriously hurt, suffering a fractured skull, thigh and other internal injuries.

… One other memory of the incident that still survives to this day is the sight of the huge radial engine near the crash site above Nunnery Lane. It had been torn from its mountings on impact and rolled down to its final resting place…

This is the crash where an element of mystery remains and some facts still need to surface. Most significantly among them is the exact type of the aircraft involved in the accident, its registration number and the purpose of the flight.

Newspaper reports of the time describe it as a ‘medium bomber’ with two seats although only one was occupied on this flight. It is also said to have had a Bristol engine which seems to tie up with the Filton connection. One theory is that it was performing a test flight, either of a new engine or perhaps a new type of propeller. The latter is maybe more likely as one remnant of the crash which survives is a propeller pitch control knob and cable used for altering the angle of the blades. Variable pitch propellers were certainly under development in the 1930s in Bristol so it’s a distinct possibility. Equally, radial engines were designed and manufactured by the Bristol Aeroplane Company and several aircraft were retained at Filton as testbeds. It’s also possible that the aircraft could have been one from 501 Auxiliary Air Force Squadron, which was based at Filton at the time, but this seems more unlikely given the types in service then. A popular idea is that it was a Gloster Gladiator and on the face of it this does seem a possibility but the evidence of two seats and the description as a bomber would appear to rule that one out. Other favourites are two Westland aircraft types, the Wapiti and the Wallace, which also flew from Filton. They fit the criteria but no evidence has yet come to light. Only time and further study will reveal the truth!”

So that was what I wrote in 2004 and from the new information surfacing in this thread, it does seem as if I was on the right lines with it being a test flight, seemingly now most likely of an engine as described in previous posts, perhaps also coupled with testing of a variable pitch propeller given the surviving relic I’ve seen, although perhaps that was standard practice in 1938? I know the Gloster aircraft company had their Hele-shaw Beacham variable pitch propeller in the 1930s and some testing was done with Bristol aircraft. I’m attaching an image of the item recovered from the wreck here.

I’ve also found out recently that the pilot didn’t leave hospital until March 1939, almost seven months after the crash. As has been posted here though he eventually died when the Spitfire he was flying crashed in 1953. At that time he was a civilian pilot on the staff at Langham aerodrome which was administered by Marshall’s Flying School, Cambridge.

The Hawker PV4, designed to specification G.4/31, seems to be almost a certainty for this mystery aircraft based on new inputs here so I very much appreciate the new information. Only one example was built and as a two-seater biplane with a Bristol engine which was being used for test flights it certainly fits the bill! I think I got put off the PV4 originally as I saw the information indicated here which stated that it wasn’t struck off charge until March 1939. In retrospect this must be just the time the records were tidied up and it was formally removed from the register as has been suggested. Thank you to Paul for suggesting it and to Niall for providing the information from the Directorate of Technical Development progress report for the quarter ending Oct 1938 which gives more details of the crash of an aircraft with the Bristol Perseus engine. Can anyone tell me where these DTD progress reports can be seen please as I’d like to read up on this further.

Special thanks to Michael Ogden for the most recent previous post to this forum – really interesting. I’d love to know anything more relating to this aircraft in your father’s log book if possible.

Many thanks to everyone again – it really does look like the research is coming to a conclusion!

Andy