Date:	Wednesday 15 April 1942
Time:	15:20 LT
Type:	De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth
Owner/operator:	24 EFTS RAF
Registration:	T7298
MSN:	83825
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	River Dee Estuary, 1.5 miles off Parkgate, Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Sealand, North Shotwick, Near Queensferry, Flintshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth 83825; Taken on charge as T7298 at 33 MU RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire 2.9.40. To 19 EFTS RAF Sealand, North Shotwick, Near Queensferry, Flintshire 4.4.41. To 24 EFTS RAF Sealand, North Shotwick, Near Queensferry, Flintshire 7.2.42.

Written off (destroyed) when collided with Sea Hurricane V6843 over the River Dee and crashed into the River Dee Estuary, 1.5 miles off Parkgate, Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire 15.4.42. According to the official file at the National Archives at Kew (File AIR81/13480 - see link #2):

"Pilot Officer E R Taylor (RCAF): killed; Hurricane V6843, Merchant Ship Fighter Unit, mid air collison with Tiger Moth aircraft T7298, 24 Elementary Flying Training School, piloted by Leading Aircraftman R V Barnby: missing believed killed; both aircraft crashed into the River Dee, near Parkgate, Cheshire, 15 April 1942"

Also, according to one published source (see link #7):

"On the afternoon of the 15th April, 1942, Pilot Officer Edmund Ray Taylor (J/7419) RCAF, of the Merchant Ship Fighter Unit, took off at 15.10 hours in Hawker Hurricane V6843 to carry out an air test prior to embarkation. When over the River Dee his aircraft collided in mid-air, between 6,000 and 8,000 feet, with a DeHavilland Tiger Moth T7298 from No.24 Elementary Flying Training School, and was seen to turn on its back and dive vertically down, crashing into the River near Parkgate at 15.20 hours. The pilot of the Tiger Moth, Leading Airman R V Barnby, of the Fleet Air Arm was also fatally injured". The RNLI entry for the crash is recorded as a no service:

"APRIL 15TH. - HOYLAKE, CHESHIRE.
It had been reported that an R.A.F. pilot was in a rubber dinghy in the Dee Estuary, but nothing was found. - Rewards, £18 18s".

Crew of Tiger Moth T7298:
Leading Aircraftman Richard Vivian Barnby FAA RN (Pilot Under Training, Service Number: FAA/FX.89356, attached to HMS Daedalus, RNAS Lee-on-Solent) - killed in active service 15.4.42

Crew of Hurricane V6843:
Pilot Officer Edmund Ray TAYLOR, RCAF (Pilot, Service Number J/7419, aged 19) - killed in active service 15.4.42

Tiger Moth T7298 Struck off charge 23.4.42 as FACE (Flying Accident Cat.E)

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft T1000-V9999 (James J Halley Air Britain, 1997 p.59 & p.118)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR81/13480: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C17206117
3. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2973789/richard-vivian-barnby/
4. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2412340/edmund-ray-taylor/
5. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p838.html
7. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=T7298
8. https://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1942-04APR.htm
9. https://www.bombercommandmuseumarchives.ca/canadaairwar/canadaairwar1942.pdf
10. https://www.rcafassociation.ca/heritage/history/fallen-aviators/rcaf-casualties-second-world-war/tabor-to-tinker/
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkgate,_Cheshire
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dee_Estuary

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-Mar-2022 18:43	Dr. John Smith	Added
20-Mar-2022 22:24	Nepa	Updated [Time, Operator, Narrative, Operator]
22-Mar-2022 02:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative]