Date:	Monday 22 April 1940
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.84 Dragon
Owner/operator:	6 CAACU RAF
Registration:	X9399
MSN:	6075
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Castle Bromwich, Warwickshire, West Midlands, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Castle Bromwich, Warwickshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
First registered (C of R 4966) 26.4.34 as G-ACPX to De Havilland Aircraft Co Ltd., Stag Lane, Edgware, Middlesex (aircraft based at Hatfield, Hertfordshire). C of A 4272 issued May 1934. Sold on and re-registered to W.L. Hope, Croydon Airport, Croydon, Surrey. Operated by Railway Air Services. From the 7.5.34 to 29.9.34 Railway Air Services operated the DH.84 Dragon G-ACPX into Pengham Moor, Cardiff on the service: Plymouth (ROBOROUGH) – Teigmouth (HALDON) – Cardiff [PENGHAM MOOR) – Birmingham (CASTLE BROMWICH) – Liverpool (SPEKE).

Sold on and re-registered to Brian Allen Aviation Ltd. Sold on and re-registered to The British Aviation Insurance Co Ltd, Bristol Airport, Whitchurch, Bristol, Gloucestershire. Sold on and re-registered 8.9.36 to Harry Crook, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset (as nominee for Western Airways Ltd). Re-registered (C of R 8652) on 23.7.38 to Norman Edgar (Western Airways) Ltd., Weston-Super-Mare.

UK civil registration G-ACPX cancelled 2.4.40 when impressed into military service as X9399. Issued to 6 CAACU (Civilian Anti-Aircraft Co-Operation Unit); Military service only lasted three weeks, as X9399 was written off (damaged beyond repair) 22.4.40 when stalled on take off and crashed at RAF Castle Bromwich, Warwickshire. Both crew on board were killed.
Crew:
Sergeant (565468) Charles Albert Leslie BEVAN (Pilot, aged 25) RAF: killed on active service 22 April 1940, buried at St. Mary's Churchyard, Harefield, Middlesex
AC.2 (Aircraftman 2nd Class) (637487) Cyril PARKIN (passenger, aged 20) RAFVR: killed on active service 22 April 1940, buried at St Nicholas & St. Peters Churchyard, Curdworth, Warwickshire

Serial X9399 never used (never applied to airframe). Struck off charge 26.4.40 as Cat.E(FA).

1. Weston-Super-Mare and the Aeroplane By Roger Dudley, Ted Johnson
2. A Flying Life: An Enthusiast's Photographic Record of British Aviation By Richard Riding
3. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/15-aeroplanes/77-register-gb-g-ac
4. https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-ACPX.pdf
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A5.html
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p060.html
7. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH84.pdf
8. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2734510/charles-albert-leslie-bevan/
9. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2714396/cyril-parkin/
10. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1251995
11. http://jn.passieux.free.fr/html/Dh84.php (French text)
12. http://www.ukairfieldguide.net/airfields/Pengham-Moor

DH.84 Dragon G-ACPX at Speke Airport, Liverpool in May 1934 whilst being operated by Railway Air Services Embed from Getty Images

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
24-Dec-2017 01:32	Dr. John Smith	Added
27-Jan-2018 23:25	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
16-Oct-2018 20:41	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
30-Oct-2022 15:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Source, Narrative, Category]
31-Oct-2022 12:37	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Location, Source, Narrative, Operator]