Date:	Sunday 29 March 1942
Time:	day
Type:	De Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	27 EFTS RAF
Registration:	T6127
MSN:	84597
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Thabas Inyorka, Matabeleland South -   Zimbabwe
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Induna, near Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia
Destination airport:

Narrative:
De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth MSN 84594; Taken on charge as T6127 at 4 MU RAF Cowley, Oxford, 12.6.41 and shipped direct to Southern Rhodesia on the s.s "Sandown Castle". To 27 EFTS RAF Induna, near Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia

Written off when spun off climbing turn and crashed at Thabas Inyorka, Matabeleland South Province, 1 mile North of RAF Induna, near Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia 29.3.42; of the two crew, the instructor, Flying Officer P Morcom (Service Number 42868) survived, but the student pilot under training, Leading Aircraftman Walter GRAYSON (Service Number 412589, aged 29) was killed.

LAC Grayson was an Australian national (born Adamstown, NSW 25.9.1912). According to a biography of him (see link #13):

"On 29 March 1942, Tiger Moth T6127 was engaged in formation flying practice when it crashed one mile north of Thabas, Induna. The pilot was slightly injured and Leading Aircraftman Grayson was killed. An inquiry into the accident stated: “The cause for the accident was obscure, between the time when Flying Officer Morcom completed the break away from the formation until just before the moment of impact. The opinion of the court was that the primary cause was lack of control of the aircraft due to Flying Officer Morcom becoming semi-conscious through ‘blacking out” or becoming attacked with a “fit of fainting” for which no proof could be obtained.”

The crew members of T6127 were:

Leading Aircraftman Walter Grayson (412589) (Student Pilot, aged 29) - killed on active service 29.3.1942
Flying Officer P Morcom (42868) (RAF) (Instructor Pilot) Injured"

Thabas Inyorka, Matabeleland South Province, is a hill in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) north east of Old Bulawayo, and has an elevation of 1351 metres/4,895 feet amsl.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft T1000-V9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1997 p.49)
2. Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
3. Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
4. Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
5. National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705 163/118/308
6. Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
7. Winter, V.A. (Vincent Adams) Noble Six Hundred: the story of the Empire Air Training Scheme with special reference to Australians who trained in Southern Rhodesia, V.A. Winter Brighton VIC 3186, 1982
8. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR81/13342: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C17205979
9. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2617000/walter-grayson/
10. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
11. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p845.html
12. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=T6127
13. https://aviationmuseumwa.org.au/afcraaf-roll/grayson-walter-412589/
14. http://www.militarian.com/threads/australian-deaths-in-the-raaf-raf-how-did-they-occur-zimbabwe.5511/
15. http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/in-memoriam-those-air-force-pilots-crews-who-died-on-this-day-in-ww2.18267/page-27#post-463142

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
14-Mar-2022 13:27	Dr. John Smith	Added
14-Mar-2022 13:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Category]
14-Mar-2022 19:30	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
13-Apr-2022 16:02	Ron Averes	Updated [Aircraft type, Location]