ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 276710
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| Date: | Friday 12 June 1942 |
| Time: | 17:50 |
| Type: |  De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth |
| Owner/operator: | Takoradi SF RAF |
| Registration: | T6594 |
| MSN: | 84923 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Pompendi Village, Dixcove, Ahanta West district, Gold Coast -
 Ghana
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Takoradi, Gold Coast, Ghana (TDK/DGTK) |
| Dixcove, Ahanta West district, Ghana |
De Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth MSN 84923; Taken on charge as T6594 at RAF Halton Training Flight, RAF Halton, Buckinghamshire 25.8.41. To 47 MU RAF Sealand, Flintshire 3.10.41 for fitting with anti-malaria spraying apparatus. Shipped to West Africa 25.3.42 [shown on record card as 'West Indies' in error]. Possibly to 777 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy, at Hastings, Sierra Leone (noted as "Transferred to Admiralty" on 25.3.42). To RAF Takoradi, Gold Coast, Ghana [by 6.42].
Written off (damaged beyond repair) when stalled and crashed in Pompendi Village, Dixcove, Ahanta West district, Gold Coast, West Africa 12.6.42. Both crew - Sergeant Melsom Henry Walter Gee (RCAF, Pilot) and Leading Aircraftman R G Langley - survived but injured. According to the relevant excerpt from the biography of the pilot:
"He was at Takoradi, Ghana from June 1942 until March 1943. Here he had an incident in a Tiger Moth (T6594). He was with LAC Langley as a passenger. Gee's statement: "I climbed to a thousand feet and flew to Dixcove where at approximately 17.50 hours, I descended to 200 feet and started a stall turn from which I could not recover...in time to clear the trees. I saw that we were going to rush in, so I dropped the port wing which struck first, breaking the fall, but severely damaged the aircraft. I climbed out uninjured except for a few scratches and found that LAC Langley was also uninjured but for a few scratches and a cut over the left eye. The aircraft crashed about 8 miles west of base near a lake and a few hundred yards from shore. Both mainplanes were wrecked as well as the fuselage. I left everything as it was and returned to the aerodrome."
Conclusion: Stalled turn at too low an altitude. The pilot has no excuse whatsoever for his breach of flying discipline and bad flying. Disciplinary action is proceeding". (See link #6 for the full biography of the pilot)
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft T1000-V9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1997 p.53
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR81/15024: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C17386523
3. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p849.html
5. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=T6594
6. https://www.thetyphoonproject.org/raf/Melsom%20Henry%20Walter-Gee.html
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoradi_Airport#Second_World_War_:_Takoradi_air_route
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixcove
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 20-Mar-2022 19:33 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 20-Mar-2022 19:35 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Category] |
| 20-Mar-2022 19:37 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Narrative] |
| 03-Apr-2022 10:45 | Nepa | Updated [Time, Operator, Operator] |
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