ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 291859
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| Date: | Thursday 16 October 1941 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | de Havilland DH.85 Leopard Moth |
| Owner/operator: | 61 Sqn SAAF |
| Registration: | SAAF 1412 |
| MSN: | 7112 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Platburg Mountains, near Harrismith, Free State -
 South Africa
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Kwazulu Natal, South Africa |
| Stamford Hill Aerodrome, Durban, South Africa |
c/no. 7112: To DH South Africa with C of A 5151 issued 1.10.35. Registered 12.9.35 as ZS-AFS. Re-registered 1940 to H.P. Blinkhorn, Plumstead, Capetown. Impressed into military service as SAAF 1412 later in 1940. To 61 Squadron, SAAF 8.40.
Written off (destroyed) when crashed into mountains in low cloud near Harrismith, Free State, South Africa en-route to Stamford Hill Aerodrome, Durban 16.10.41, both persons on board were killed:
Lieutenant Alexander Thompson (Pilot, South African Air Force, 61 Squadron, Service Number: 203176, aged 36)
Brigadier Harold Griffin Eady, MC (passenger, Royal Engineers,Service Number: ML8203).
As a contemporary newspaper reported ("The Argus", Melbourne, Victoria, Saturday 18 Oct 1941):
"BRIGADIER KILLED IN CRASH
CAPE TOWN Friday, AAP.
Brigadier H. G. Eady. a leading member of the British Military Mission to South Africa, has been killed in a plane crash in Natal. The South African pilot of the machine was also killed"
Although the mountains that the Leopard Moth crashed into are not named, the nearest mountain to the crash location is the 2,394-metre-high (7,854 ft) high Platberg Mountain.
Sources:
1. The Argus, Melbourne, Victoria, Saturday 18 Oct 1941: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8211168
2. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p071.html
3. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/archive/Archive_2009.pdf
4. https://www.dehavilland.co.za/DH85_Leopard_Moth.html
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/993952/harold-griffin-eady/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/991366/alexander-thomson/
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrismith
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Oct-2022 01:13 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 09-Oct-2022 20:43 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 11-Oct-2022 01:33 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 12-Oct-2022 16:54 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 12-Oct-2022 17:00 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Narrative, Category] |
| 12-Oct-2022 17:04 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative, Category] |
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