Date:	Monday 23 September 1929
Time:	c. 15:45 LT
Type:	de Havilland DH.60M Moth
Owner/operator:	Edward Matthias Tiarks
Registration:	G-AAHB
MSN:	1352
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Hambrook, near Filton, Bristol, Gloucestershire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Priddy, Somerset
Destination airport:	Filton Aerodrome, Filton, Bristol, Gloucestershire

Narrative:
c/no. 1352: DH.60M Auto-slot [Gipsy I engine #541] registered G-AAHB [C of R 1974] 10.5.29 to Edward Matthias Tiarks, Chislehurst (based Stag Lane, Edgware, Middlesex, later Filton, Bristol, Gloucestershire). C of A 2031 issued 18.5.29. Occasionally operated by Bristol & Wessex Aeroplane Club. Took part in 1929 Kings Cup Air Race 5-6.7.29, Race number "11", flown by Flight Lieutenant A M Kimmins, and finished 22nd.

Nose-dived into the ground at Hambrook, near Filton, Bristol, Gloucestershire 23.9.29; both owner Edward Matthias Tiarks (aged 24), and passenger The Hon Edward Victor Somerset (aged 26) killed. According to one published source (see link #1):

"Account of the death of Edward Tiarks
Edward Tiarks (left) was 24 when he died in an aircraft accident at Hambrook, Somerset on 23 September 1929.Edward was the second son of Frank Tiarks, a partner in J H Schroder & Co, and a director of the Bank of England. Edward had recently purchased the aircraft in which he died, a De Havilland two-seater Moth, fitted with a Gipsy engine, and he was an enthusiastic pilot, often flying between Chislehurst and Filton, where the aircraft was mainly kept.

He was regarded by fellow members of the Wessex Aeroplane Club to be one of the best amateur pilots among them, and had done a considerable amount of flying at weekends. His family had a home at Loxton, to the south of Bristol.

He was great friends with 26-year-old Edward Somerset, a cousin of the Duke of Beaufort, and a Lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards. Both men were in the two-seater aircraft when it crashed.

The aircraft took off from a field near Priddy in Somerset at about 3.30 on the afternoon of 23 September 1929. Captain Ernest Bartlett of the Wessex Aeroplane Club said that it was the intention to fly around a little, and then land at nearby Filton, north of Bristol, to enable Lieutenant Somerset to catch a train to London. Tiarks was in the rear seat, and Somerset in front, but since it was a dual control type, it is not possible to know who was in control at the time of the accident.

The aircraft was seen flying at low level towards Filton, and eye-witnesses to the crash commented that apart from the low altitude, there was nothing initially to indicate that there was a problem with the aircraft. It then passed over a goods train, missing it ‘by the barest of margins’, before rising slowly, and then suddenly making a nose-dive.

The aircraft hit the ground with considerable force, and there was a deafening explosion, caused most probably by the petrol tank, resulting in the aircraft bouncing up to fall again. Dust rose from the explosion to a height of 100ft, and wreckage from the aircraft was scattered in all directions over a wide area. Both men were thrown clear of the aircraft to a distance of 60 yards from the point of the explosion, landing within a few feet of each other. Somerset died instantaneously, and Tiarks within a few minutes of the explosion.

The crash was witnessed by farm workers and others, and within minutes there was a considerable crowd of people. A doctor arrived within 10 minutes of being called, but there was nothing that could be done to help the two men. Their bodies were taken from the scene to the White Horse Inn at Hambrook, where Captain Bartlett formally identified the bodies"

Registration G-AAHB cancelled 2.9.29 as "destroyed". Despite this, rebuilt in September-October 1929 as G-AASR c/no.1441

Hambrook is a village in South Gloucestershire, England, situated on the north-eastern outskirts of the city of Bristol. It lies between the larger communities of Winterbourne and Frenchay and is part of the Civil Parish of Winterbourne.

Subsequent history as c/no 1441 DH.60M Auto-slot [Gipsy I #541]: registered as G-AASR [C of R 2339] 14.11.29 to The Bristol & Wessex Aeroplane Club Ltd, Whitchurch, Bristol, Gloucestershire (and probably a rebuild of wrecked G-AAHB c/no. 1352 - it certainly used same engine). C of A 2317 issued 2.12.29. Sold 31.10.34 and re-registered [C of R 5491] 11.12.34 to The Cambridge Aero Club Ltd, Fen Ditton, Cambridge. C of A lapsed 21.4.39. Withdrawn from use and stored from 4.9.39, when all private civilian flying was prohibited due to the outbreak of war.

Registration cancelled 3.6.40 as sold. Impressed into military service as AW110 9.6.40 and to 46 MU RAF Lossiemouth. To 32 MU RAF St Athan 10.11.40. Struck off charge and probably used for decoy purposes

1. Bristol Evening Times 24 September 1929: http://www.kemnal-road.org.uk/PDF%20files/DeathofEdwardTiarks.pdf
2. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1929.htm
3. As G-AAHX: https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/gb-registers-g-aa/g-aa-part-1?highlight=WyJnLWFhaGIiXQ==
4. As G-AASR: https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/gb-registers-g-aa/g-aa-part-2?highlight=WyJnLWFhc3IiXQ==
5. 1929 Kings Cup Air Race: https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/pioneering-women/kings-cup-1929?highlight=WyJnLWFhaGIiXQ==
6. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AAHB.pdf
7. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AASR.pdf
8. https://www.militaryimages.net/media/edward-victor-somerset.123569/
9. http://www.thepeerage.com/p2469.htm#i24681
10. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?17392-RAF-fatalities-1929
11. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/11/C149: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6576617
12. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A.html
13. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A1.html
14. https://billiongraves.com/grave/Edward-Matthias-Tiarks/47032979
15. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/235830583/edward-matthias-tiarks
16. https://ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh60.pdf
17. https://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?17392-RAF-fatalities-1929&p=104459#post104459
18. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/157380611/edward-victor-somerset
19. https://www.militaryimages.net/media/edward-victor-somerset.123569/
20. https://www.thepeerage.com/p2469.htm
21. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hambrook

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-Jun-2018 21:53	Dr. John Smith	Added
22-Jun-2018 21:53	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Embed code]
19-Nov-2023 18:14	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category]