ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 219786
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Tuesday 18 July 1916 |
| Time: | 18:15 LT |
| Type: | Henry Farman HF.20 |
| Owner/operator: | 19 (Reserve) Sqn RFC |
| Registration: | 7430 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Hounslow Cemetery, near RFC Hounslow Heath, Hounslow, Middlesex -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Hounslow Heath, Hounslow, Middlesex |
| Hounslow Heath, Hounslow, Middlesex | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
18.7.16: Henry Farman HF.20 No.7430, 19 (Reserve) Squadron, RFC Hounslow. Written off (destroyed) when Side slipped, nose dived and burnt after bursting into flames on impact, Hounslow Cemetery, near RFC Hounslow Heath, Hounslow, Middlesex. Both crew - Captain Charles d'Arcy Edmund Wentworth Reeve (pilot, aged 21 on attachment from the Suffolk Regiment, and on loan from 52 Squadron RFC) and 2nd Lt Walter William Gordon Beatson (observer, aged 18) - were killed. According to a contemporary report in Flight magazine (July 20 1916 page 603 see link #6):
"Fatal Accidents
While flying over the Hounslow district soon after 6 p.m. on Tuesday evening, an aeroplane suddenly crashed to the ground in the cemetery. The wreck immediately burst into flames, and the pilot and observer were burnt to death"
The aircraft accident card for Henry Farman HF.20 No. 7430 has the following hand-written note on the reverse
"Court of Inquiry No.C.69043
The cause of the accident was in our opinion, due to the misjudgment on the part of the deceased pilot, and that no blame can be attached to Lt. Beatson. Machine was in good order. Accident caused by side slip and nose dive"
According to a contemporary newspaper report (The Middlesex Chronicle, 22 July 1916):
"TERRIBLE AEROPLANE FATALITY
TWO OFFICERS KILLED.
The manuoevres of the aeroplanes stationed the Hounslow Heath Aerodrome have for a considerable period since the country went to war proved to the public of Hounslow and district a source of much pleasure. Although their presence in the air has become much of a common-place spectacle, the interest taken by young and old in the wonderful machines continues to be as deep as ever it was. Many people who happened to be in the vicinity of the Hounslow Heath shortly after six o'clock on Tuesday evening were horrified at the sight of one of the aeroplanes tumbling down into a field adjoining the Cemetery in Hanworth road, and on reaching the ground bursting into flames, which soon claimed as their victims two gallant officers of the Royal Flying Corps. Captain Charles D'Arcy Wentworth Reeve, aged 21 years, and Sec. Lieut. Walter William Gordon Beatson, aged 18.
The circumstances surrounding the fatality were related before Mr Reginald Kemp. J.P. (the Coroner for West Middlesex), and a jury of which Mr. Smith was foreman, at the Churchroom, Montague Road, Hounslow, on Thursday morning.
Being unable to attend on account of military duties, Capt. Reeve, a brother of the deceased captain, wrote stating that he had identified his brother, and Sec.. Lt. Beatson was identified by Major H Bradley, R.F.C.
Continuing, the Major said the Lieutenant only came to Hounslow the day before the accident, but he had flown before. Captain Reeve was an expert flier, and one of the best in the Corps. He did not witness the occurrence, as he had left the Aerodrome just before, but it was reported to him next morning, and he had held a court of inquiry. What happened was that Capt. Reeve, who was the pilot and instructing Lt. Beatson, banked too steeply and the machine side-slipped.
The Coroner: I suppose it was what we should call an error of judgment? These things do happen, from time to time with the most expert flyers
Witness: It was over-confidence in this case.
In answer to questions, Major Bradley said the machine was only 200 feet from the ground, and Captain Reeve had therefore no time to recover. It crashed to the ground and the officers must have been killed instantaneously by the shock, being burnt afterwards, through the petrol tank bursting and the fluid igniting. Lt. Beatson had his back broken. The machine was perfectly all right before the accident.
The Coroner: In your judgment was it absolutely unavoidable? You know these things are bound to happen from time to time.
Witness: It ought not to have happened. It was over-confidence.
Air-Mechanic Christopher Napper also stated that Capt. Reeve was an expert flier, but that he did not know Lt. Beatson, who went up as a passenger.
The Coroner: Any inexperienced person can do that. I suppose? -
Witness: Yes.
The Coroner: He had nothing to do with the controls or anything in that way? -
Witness: No.
Witness, continuing, said he had had eleven months experience. He tested the machine before the officers flew it and it was in perfect condition. He stood and watched it ascend and after it had been up about five minutes, saw it side-slip, crash to the ground, and burst into flames. It was too low for the pilot to have tried to right it. There was just a slight wind, but nothing to account for the accident. The officers were strapped in. He should think they were dead before the machine caught fire. An ambulance was sent across to them instantly, and they were taken to hospital.
Corporal William Maple, an engine fitter, of the Royal Flying Corps deposed to the machine being right in every way when the officers ascended in it, at 6.15 on Tuesday evening. It rose from the Heath in good form, but after two or three turns pitched to the ground and burst into flames.
Dr. Wolf stated that Capt. Reeve was brought into the Military Hospital at 6.30 and was quite dead. It was impossible to say absolutely what the cause of death was, but he should think it was from shock caused by serious burns. If the fire had not broken out the captain might not have died. Lt. Beatson was brought in an hour later, as he believed some difficulty was experienced in getting his body out of the wreckage.
With reference to this Major Bradley, replying to the Coroner, said Capt. Reeve was underneath one of the wings, but Lt. Beatson was below part of the engine.
Dr Wolf, proceeding, stated that in this case also the cause of death was shock from burns. It was impossible to say whether the young fellow’s back was broken, as he was stiff when brought into the hospital. This position did not suggest that his back had been broken.
The Coroner, in summing up, stated that he did not think anybody was to blame, and it seemed a case of the pilot, being over-zealous. One knew how extraordinarily plucky the flying officers were, and it might be that sometimes they got a little bit careless.
The jury decided that the officers died of shock from burns caused accidentally by the aeroplane side-slipping to the ground and catching fire. P.C. Demer was Coroner's Officer, and Station-Sergeant Taylor represented the Commissioners."
Captain Charles D'Arcy Edmund Wentworth Reeve was living at Hambleton Hall with his parents at the outbreak of war. He was the son of Wentworth Reeve and his wife, originally of Livermere Park, Bury St. Edmunds, and was born at Owsden Hall, Newmarket, on 5 September 1894. He joined the Officer Training Corps while at Hambleton, and entered Sandhurst in November 1914, becoming a Second Lieutenant in the Suffolk Regiment before being attached to the Royal Flying Corps in March 1915. He went out to France on 22 August and flew in the Loos area before being based near Ypres. Charles became a Flight Commander and temporary Captain on 1 May 1916. He died, not in battle, but in a flying accident in England after setting off from Hounslow on 18 July 1916. He was buried at Livermere, Suffolk after a Requiem Mass at Bury St Edmunds. He is not on Hambleton's war memorial. An article in The Tablet on 5 August 1916 described him as a first-rate night pilot. It says he was received into the Church at Exton "about two years ago."
Sources:
1. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1916.htm
2. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/398252/reeve,-charles-d'arcy-edmund-w./
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2745766/beatson,-walter-william-gordon/
4. http://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/beatson-w.w.g.-walter-william-gordon
5. http://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/archive/reeve-c.d.a.w.-charles-darcy-edmund-wentworth
6. Flight magazine (July 20 1916 page 603): https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1916/1916%20-%200603.html?search=William%20Boyle-Power
7. https://www.rutlandremembers.org/fallen/350/reeve-captain-charles-darcy-edmund-wentworth
8. http://www.undyingmemory.net/Livermere/reeve-charles.html
9. http://charterhousewarmemorial.org.uk/RollofHonour.aspx?RecID=525&TableName=ta_factfile
10. http://www.doverwarmemorialproject.org.uk/Casualties/WWI/SurnamesR.htm
11. http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Bedfordshire/BedfordCemetery-1.html
12. http://www.sewellgenealogy.com/p37.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 20-Dec-2018 20:48 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 20-Dec-2018 23:12 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 25-Dec-2018 21:02 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation