Date:	Saturday 18 July 1936
Time:	day
Type:	Hawker Demon Mk I
Owner/operator:	41 Sqn RAF
Registration:	K4541
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Khormaksar bombing range, Khormaksar, Aden -   Yemen
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Khormaksar, Aden
Destination airport:

Narrative:
33069 Fg Off Denis Henry SPENCER, a pilot of 8 (B) Squadron RAF, borrowed 41 Squadron's Demon I, K4541, on 18 Jul 1936 to undertake 'flying practice', most likely just taking the opportunity to gain experience on a different type of aircraft. At the time, 8 Sqn was equipped with Fairey IIIF & Vincent bombers.

Attesting to Spencer's inexperience on fighters, he crashed the aircraft near the RAF bombing range at Khormaksar after only a short time in the air, and was killed. Available records merely state his death resulted from "multiple injuries". It was his first hour on the type.

The accident investigation concluded that the "cause [was] not ascertained owing to [a] lack of eye witnesses [sic] & complete break up of acft. Suggested that acft hit ground during recovery from dive continued too near ground". [Accident Card, A. M. Form 1180]

Born in Tavistock, Devon, on 29 Aug 1913, Spencer (who shares a common ancestor with Princess Diana Spencer) attended RAF College, Cranwell, Sep 1931-Jul 1933, and graduated with a permanent commission as a Pilot Officer on 15 Jul 33. He was posted to 33 (B) Squadron at Bicester the same day, and then to 8 (B) Sqn at Khormaksar, Aden, on 10 Oct 1934. He was promoted to Flying Officer on 15 Jan 1935.

Around a year later, in October 1935, 41 (F) Squadron arrived in Aden on air policing duties as a part of the British Government's response to Mussolini's annexation of Abyssinia (the so-called 'Abyssinian Crisis'), and brought their Demon fighters with them by sea.

Spencer was buried in Grave G.174 of Maala British Cemetery in Aden on 19 Jul 1936. He had logged almost 670 flying hours on all types, of which just one hour was on Demons.

1. Accident Card, A. M. Form 1180, 18 Jul 1936, Royal Air Force Museum, Grahame Park Way, Hendon, NW9 5LL, United Kingdom, https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk
2. Air-Britain The K File The RAF of the 1930s
3. http://www.rcawsey.co.uk/Accf1939.htm
4. https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1936/1936%20-%202064.PDF
5. Entry for 18 July 1936, British Forces Aden ORB, TNA AIR 24/1

Note that attached images are for reference / verification of data, not for display purposes

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
08-Oct-2009 07:50	JINX	Added
16-May-2013 16:43	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Source]
13-Jul-2013 18:28	JINX	Updated [Operator, Source]
06-Jun-2015 21:19	Angel dick one	Updated [Operator]
14-Apr-2018 23:21	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Date, Time, Operator, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
10-Nov-2018 07:22	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
02-Dec-2023 09:34	Steve Brew	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative, Photo]