Date:	Monday 8 December 1947
Time:	dusk
Type:	De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	6 SFTS RAF
Registration:	DE347
MSN:	85369
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Marple, 4 miles South East of Stockport, Cheshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Tern Hill, Shropshire
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth MSN 85369: Taken on charge as DE347 at 15 MU RAF Wroughton, Wiltshire 6.2.42. To 47 MU Sealand, Flintshire 5.8.42. To 231 Squadron, Long Kesh 12.11.42; to Nutts Corner 1.43; York 3.43; Dunsfold 7.43. Crashed at RAF Dunsfold, Surrey 1.9.43; According to the 231 Squadron ORB:

"Tiger Moth DE347 (128 AIRFIELD, 231 SQUADRON) Collapse of undercarriage on landing categorised B by F/O SELVEY. Salvage commenced by No.1 A.S.D. and delivered to 405 R. & S.U. for onward transporting to W. Mumford Ltd., Crownhill, Nr. Plymouth. Delivery 6th Sept. 1943"

To W Mumford for repairs; arrived 8.9.43; to 38 MU Llandow 21.10.43 after completion of repairs. To 11 EFTS RAF Perth/Scone 2.11.44. To 12 MU RAF Kirkbride, Cumberland 13.8.45. To 6 SFTS RAF Tern hill, Shropshire 16.9.47.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) when Hit trees during forced landing at Marple, 4 miles South East of Stockport, Cheshire, 8.12.47; the pilot had become lost and unsure of his position during poor weather conditions (increasing mist and fog), reducing visibility, and fading daylight, as it was nearing dusk. To compound the pilot's problems, the Tiger Moth was running low on fuel, making an urgent forced landing necessary.

The pilot therefore selected a field in Marple, 4 miles South East of Stockport, Cheshire in which to make the forced landing. However, the field selected turned out to be heavily furrowed and far from smooth. The Tiger Moth then struck a tree and was severely damaged.

Struck off charge 14.1.48 as Cat.E2(FA). The reported crash location of Marple is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is on the river Goyt and 9 miles southeast of Manchester, 9 miles north of Macclesfield and 4 miles southeast of Stockport. It was in the county of Cheshire until the creation of Greater Manchester in 1974

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft DA100-DZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain)
3. Final Landings: A Summary of RAF Aircraft and Combat Losses 1946 to 1949 by Colin Cummings p.354
4. Liverpool Echo 9 December 1947
5. 231 Squadron ORB (Operations Record Book) (Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for 1-30 September 1943: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/1426 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8395542
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._231_Squadron_RAF#As_an_army_co-operation_squadron
7. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
8. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=%20DE347
9. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p853.html
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marple,_Greater_Manchester

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
09-Sep-2021 16:41	Dr. John Smith	Added
09-Sep-2021 16:42	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
10-Sep-2021 08:53	Angel dick one five	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Operator]
10-Sep-2021 14:22	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
05-May-2023 15:57	Dr. John Smith	Updated [[Source]]