Date:	Monday 7 June 1948
Time:	day
Type:	De Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	4 FTS RAF
Registration:	DX688
MSN:	DHA763
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Whites Run RLG, Matabeleland South -   Zimbabwe
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Heaney, Southern Rhodesia
Destination airport:	RAF Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia

Narrative:
De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth MSN DHA.763 built by DH Australia at Bankstown, Sydney, NSW. Shipped to SAAF (South Arfrican Air Force) on the s.s 'Nestor'; arrived Durban, South Africa 1.6.42. Allocated RAF serials as DX688; then taken on charge by the SAAF as '2438'. To Southern Rhodesia 8.10.46. To 4 FTS RAF Heany, Southern Rhodesia, [by 6.48].

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 7.6.48 when struck wire fence in forced landing following engine failure in aerobatics White’s Run RLG [Relief Landing Ground], Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia; the aircraft was engaged in an aerobatics training sortie, when it suffered a partial engine failure. The Instructor pilot then took control of the aircraft, and carried out a forced emergency landing. However, the field selected for the landing had a wire fence, which was hidden by the long grass. Tiger Moth DX688 ran into the fence and was wrecked.

NOTE: Several published sources state that Tiger Moth DX688 was repaired, and went onto further civilian use, registered as VP-YDH. This is not the case; the RAF serial DX688 was applied, due to an administrative error, to TWO Tiger Moths. In the first instance to MSN DHA.688, which became DX688 "the first", then VP-YDH on 16.1.46. This aircraft had its registration VP-YDH cancelled due to an accident on or before 31.3.48 - three months BEFORE the above accident. Tiger Moth DX688 "the second" [MSN DHA.763] was the aircraft involved in the above accident on 7.6.48.

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.388
4. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/pAus7.html
6. https://www.dehavilland.co.za/DH82A_Tiger_Moth_construction_numbers_and_histories.htm
7. https://zimfieldguide.com/harare/rhodesia-air-training-group-ratg-1940-%E2%80%93-1945-and-statistics-fatalities-commonwealth-war

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Sep-2021 17:28	Dr. John Smith	Added
12-Sep-2021 17:29	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
12-Sep-2021 20:11	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
14-Sep-2021 15:49	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Narrative]
14-Sep-2021 17:46	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
12-Apr-2022 07:31	Ron Averes	Updated [Aircraft type, Cn]
13-Apr-2022 23:36	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]