Date:	Saturday 2 August 1941
Time:	night
Type:	Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I
Owner/operator:	96 Sqn RAF
Registration:	T3924
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Cranage, Middlewich, Cheshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Cranage, Middlewich, Cheshire
Destination airport:	RAF Cranage, Middlewich, Cheshire

Narrative:
Boulton Paul Defiant T3924/'ZJ-P', 96 Squadron, RAF Cranage, Middlewich, Cheshire: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 2 August 1941 when engine failed, lost power, and aircraft undershot on approach to RAF Cranage, Middlewich, Cheshire, after a training flight. The Defiant hit a tree, and was destroyed by fire. Both crew survived, although the pilot was injured.
Crew:
P/O (68138) Josef KEPRT (Cs pilot) RAFVR - injured
Sgt. HARPER (A/G) RCAF - Uninjured

Biography of the pilot, post this incident: After recovery, he was reassigned to 312 squadron from May 1942. In August 1943 he was transferred to No. 1 Delivery Flight in Croydon. From 1944 again with 312 squadron and in June 1944 he became the commander of "A" Flight of the squadron. In October 1944, he was transferred to the Inspectorate of the Czechoslovak Air Force in London, where he remained until the end of the war.

Josef Keprt returned to his homeland on August 19, 1945. In September 1945, he was transferred to the Air Force Academy in Hradec Králové as a shooting and bombing instructor. After February 1948, like many others, he was demoted, kicked out of the army and spent the rest of his life working as a factory worker in Brno. He died in Brno in July 1976. The grave of Josef Keprt is located in the Brno Central Cemetery. (see link #10 for full biography).

1. The Boulton Paul Defiant: Day and Night Fighter By Phil H. Listemann
2. Eyes of the Night: Air Defence of North-western England, 1940–41 By Joe Bamford & Ron Collier
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft T1000-V9999 (James J halley, Air Britain, 1997)
4. 96 Squadron ORB for August 1941: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/764/19: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8384693.
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/8015: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16757312
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=T3924
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Cranage#RAF_units_and_aircraft
8. https://www.middlewich-heritage.org.uk/RAF_Cranage/raf-cranage-1941.html
9. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/military/Crashes_Wales_and_West_Midlands.pdf
10. https://ms-my.facebook.com/CzRAF/posts/7479864278754644/
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._96_Squadron_RAF#World_War_II

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
15-Jan-2011 16:26	ThW	Added
12-Jan-2012 13:11	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]
14-Aug-2013 20:22	JINX	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Narrative]
24-Aug-2014 14:16	Holschtein	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Destination airport, Narrative]
17-Aug-2020 10:37	soucek56	Updated [Nature, Source, Narrative, Operator]
02-Jul-2022 09:13	Nepa	Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator]