Date:	Tuesday 21 May 1946
Time:	day
Type:	De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	CFS RAF
Registration:	DE523
MSN:	85503
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Poulton, 5 miles east of Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Little Rissington, Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
DeHavilland DH.82A Tiger Moth MSN 85503: Taken on charge as DE523 at 24 MU RAF Tern hill, Shropshire 18.3.42. To 9 MU RAF Cosford 5.4.42. To 10 Flying Instructors School, RAF Woodley, Reading, Berkshire 3.10.42. To 7 Flying Instructors School/Central Flying School, RAF South Cerney, Gloucestershire 7.5.46

Written off (destroyed) 21.5.46 when crashed at Poulton, 5 miles east of Cirencester, Gloucestershire. Both crew members killed. The aircraft flew into the ground at Poulton, Gloucestershire while carrying out aerobatics at a dangerously low altitude. "Dangerously low" meaning that the aircraft was carrying out aerobatics at an altitude which left little, if any, height for recovery. The Tiger Moth was wrecked, and both crew members were killed

Crew of Tiger Moth DE523:
W/O (1682131) William Gallagher GORDON (Pupil Pilot u/t) RAF VR - killed in service 21.5.46, buried at Movilla Cemetery, Newtownards, Northern Ireland (section 1, Grave 6)
F/Lt (127048) Desmond Fred RUCHWALDY, DFC (Instructor Pilot, aged 25) RAF - killed in service 21.5.46, buried at Haycombe Cemetery, Bath, Somerset

The reported crash location of Poulton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire, approximately 5 miles east of Cirencester, along the A417 Road. The crew deaths were recorded as being in the districts of South Cerney, Gloucestershire (W/O Gordon) and Cirencester, Gloucestershire (Flt/Lt Ruchwaldy)

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.42 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.147
3. RAF Little Rissington: The Central Flying School 1946-76 p.310, By R. Deacon, A. Pollock, M. Thomas, R. Bagshaw
4. Royal Air Force Aircraft DA100-DZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p855.html
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2690352/william-gallagher-gordon/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2691738/desmond-fred-ruchwaldy/
8. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/98180846/william-gallagher-gordon
9. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54561642/desmond-fred-ruchwaldy
10. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?22088-460521-Unaccounted-Airmen-21-05-1946&p=129196#post129196
11. https://barryniblock.co.uk/world-war-two-war-dead/names-listed-alphabetically-by-surname/gamble-to-good/gordon-william-gallagher-no-1682131/
12. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
13. https://www.natwestgroupremembers.com/our-fallen/our-fallen-ww2/r/desmond-ruchwaldy.html
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poulton,_Gloucestershire

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-Jul-2021 14:08	Dr. John Smith	Added
20-Jul-2021 14:08	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
20-Jul-2021 14:09	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
20-Jul-2021 14:10	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
20-Jul-2021 14:10	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location]
20-Jul-2021 16:18	Tu104	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]
28-Aug-2021 17:19	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
28-Aug-2021 17:20	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
28-Aug-2021 17:24	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Narrative]
29-Aug-2021 08:51	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]
26-Jun-2023 21:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]]