Date:	Thursday 26 March 1936
Time:	night
Type:	de Havilland DH.84 Dragon
Owner/operator:	Commercial Air Hire
Registration:	G-ACAP
MSN:	6002
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Stoney Cross, Minstead, near Lyndhurst, Hampshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Croydon Airport, London (EGCR)
Destination airport:	Bounemouth (Hurn) Airport, Hampshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
First registered 16.11.1932 as G-ACAP to Hillman's Saloon Coaches & Airways, Romford, Essex. Re-registered 8.2.1936 to Commercial Air Hire Ltd., Croydon.

Written off 26.3.1936: The pilot was performing a special (Army Co-Operation) flight on behalf of the Royal Air Force. En route, while cruising by night, the twin engine aircraft went out of control and crashed in Stoney Cross, Minstead, near Lyndhurst, Hampshire. According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Portsmouth Evening News" - Friday 27 March 1936):

"LOVERS, BROTHERS AND FRIEND DIE
Rescuers Knee Deep in Mud
FIVE HOURS' ORDEAL IN BRINGING BODIES TO ROAD
Machine Being Used as Searchlight Target

A girl who became engaged less than a fortnight ago was killed with her sweetheart and three other men - two of them brothers - when an air liner in which they were flying crashed in a desolate part of the New Forest, near Lyndhurst, Hants, last night. She had flown only once before.

The victims of the disaster were:
Captain Francis Joseph Birmingham, of Adastral House, King's Road, Minster, Sheerness, the pilot;
Brendan Birmingham, of Gleneagles Road, Streatham, S.W., his brother;
Mr. Robert Frederick Burgess, of Limes Avenue, Croydon, formerly of St. Leonard's Road, Hove, Sussex, the wireless operator;
Miss Daisy Marsh, of Pemdevon Road, West Croydon, his fiancee; and
Norman Tyrrell Burton, of Norwood Road, London, S.E.

It is understood that the machine, which belonged to Commercial Air Hire, Croydon, had been hired for Army Co-operation work by searchlight units to get practice in locating aircraft. The last message received from the pilot said: "Flying 8,000 feet over Southampton. O.K."

A second machine returned and reported that it had been struck by lightning and the radio apparatus had been wrecked. The wireless operator was struck.

'Plane Wrecked
The 'plane, which crashed near Minstead, in a small area of marshland about three-quarters of a mile from the nearest road, was wrecked, but did not catch fire. The bodies of the occupants were terribly mutilated. Two were flung about 60 yards from the machine. The others had to be extricated from the wreckage. Policemen wearing waders and heavy gumboots worked by the light of hand torches and bicycle lamps throughout the night searching the wreckage. To get to the wrecked 'plane they had to make their way with only lamps to aid them across marshland, heavy undergrowth, bracken and furze bushes. Oftentimes they sank to their knees in the mud.

The bodies were brought through the forest to the roadway and taken to the little mortuary at the Lyndhurst Homes. Five journeys had to be made through the bogland and the heavy undergrowth. There was only one stretcher. One of the bodies was taken in a hearse. The other four were placed in an ordinary garage service van.

Severe Atmospheric And Static Disturbances
Other pilots who had been taking part in Army co-operation work in the vicinity reported on returning to Croydon that there had been severe atmospheric and static disturbances. It is thought that the machine involved in the crash might have been caught in this way and forced down.

Target For Searchlights
Captain Birmingham, the pilot, had been with Commercial Air Hire Limited for several years, and Mr. Burgess had been a wireless operator for the same firm for about two years. His parents live at Shoreham-by-Sea. An official of the Company stated that at the time of the crash the 'plane was engaged in manoeuvring for the benefit of an Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Company of Territorials. The Territorials, he said, often engaged 'planes from the firm to fly at night as targets for searchlight brigades. Capt. Birmingham was regarded as a particularly good pilot for this class of work, being adept at dodging searchlight beams."

Registration G-ACAP cancelled by the Air Ministry on 31.3.1936 due to "destruction or permanent withdrawl from use of aircraft"

1. Portsmouth Evening News - Friday 27 March 1936
2. "Air Crash in the New Forest." Times [London, England] 27 March 1936 p 14.
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A4.html
4. https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-ACAP.pdf
5. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=13999.0
6. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/aeroplanes/15-aeroplanes/77-register-gb-g-ac
7. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1937.htm
8. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 5/18/C333: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C6576801
9. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh84-dragon-1-stoney-cross-5-killed
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Dragon#Accidents_and_incidents

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

26 June 1936

G-ACAP

Commercial Air Hire Ltd

5

Stoney Cross, Minstead, near Lyndhurst, Hampshire

w/o

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2008 01:00	ASN archive	Added
19-Jun-2010 11:01	mike	Updated [Cn, Total fatalities, Nature, Source, Damage, Narrative]
29-Dec-2011 14:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
17-Nov-2016 20:07	TB	Updated [Time, Total occupants, Location, Source, Narrative]
17-Nov-2016 20:09	TB	Updated [Source, Narrative]
02-Oct-2017 21:04	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
02-Oct-2017 21:06	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
23-Feb-2020 23:09	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]