Date:	Friday 4 April 1941
Time:	night
Type:	Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I
Owner/operator:	141 Sqn RAF
Registration:	T3913
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Little Hermitage, Higham, 2 miles from RAF Gravesend, Kent -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Gravesend, Thong Lane, Gravesend, Kent
Destination airport:	RAF Gravesend, Thong Lane, Gravesend, Kent

Narrative:
Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I T3913, 141 Squadron, RAF Gravesend, Kent: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 4 April 1941. According to the file at the National Archives at Kew (File AIR 81/5679 - see link #3): "Flying Officer D C Williams, Flying Officer G F C Pledger: killed; aircraft failed to return from operational flight, Defiant T3913, 141 Squadron, 4 April 1941"

Took off at 23:00 hrs for an operational flight. Their the plane had taken off with one other but both were recalled to Gravesend due to very bad weather and poor radio reception. In descending through cloud, Defiant T3913 struck the ground near Little Hermitage, Higham, Gravesend Road, Rochester, Kent two miles from base. Both crew killed

Crew:
Flying Officer (41230) Denis Conon WILLIAMS (pilot) RAF - killed on active service 4 April 1941, buried at Sutton Road Cemetery, Southend-on-Sea, Essex
Pilot Officer (79216) Geoffrey Frank Colman PLEDGER (Air Gunner. aged 35) RAFVR - killed on active service 4 April 1941, commemorated at Perry Bar Crematorium, Birmingham

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft T1000-V9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1997)
2. ORB 141 Squadron RAF for April 1941: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/969/21: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8388573
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) AIR81/5679: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16689777
4. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2449741/dennis-conon-williams/
5. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2427363/geoffrey-frank-colman-pledger/
6. https://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/WilliamsDC.htm
7. https://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Pledger.htm
8. https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101350227-the-little-hermitage-higham

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