ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 52942
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| Date: | Friday 18 August 1939 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Handley Page Hampden Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 185 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | L4192 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Maltby Lane End, Maltby, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Thornaby, North Yorkshire |
| RAF Thornaby | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Hampden L4192 was built to contract 549267/36 by Handley Page at Radlett and delivered to 185 Squadron in June 1939. On 18th August 1939 the pilot of this aircraft was undertaking his first solo on the Hampden and the aircraft took off from Thornaby. It dived into the ground from 300 feet soon afterwards at Maltby Lane End (or Raper's Farm as is quoted elsewhere). The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot, who was flying solo, was sadly killed. Rapers Farm is not shown on modern maps and could relate to the owner's surname rather than the farm name.
According to a contemporary report in "Flight International" (August 24 1939 page 181 - see link #2):
"P/O Reginald Raymond Harper lost his life in an accident which occurred in Yorkshire, on August 18, to an aircraft of No. 185 Squadron. P/O Harper was the pilot and sole occupant of the aircraft."
In Ian Pearce's book "Lost on Easby Moor, the last flight of Hudson NR-E", he quotes a number of letters of one of the crew of the Hudson, Norman Drury, killed on that night. One such letter makes mention to this Hampden crash and he stated...
"I saw a Hampden bomber crash about a quarter mile from the aerodrome last Friday. The tanks blew up when it hit the ground and although it's an all-metal machine it was reduced to ashes in a very short while. There was only one chap in it."
Pilot - P/O Reginald R Harper RAF, aged 23, initially of The Argentine. Burial location not known.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-N9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
2. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1939/1939-1-%20-%200579.html
3. http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/planes/north/l4192.html
4. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Acc1939.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Dec-2008 11:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 09-Jan-2015 01:16 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 09-Jan-2015 01:18 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 12-Feb-2015 15:08 | Apen | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
| 01-Apr-2018 15:16 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 01-Apr-2018 15:17 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location] |
| 10-Nov-2018 22:12 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator] |
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