Date:	Wednesday 30 April 1941
Time:	23:00
Type:	Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I
Owner/operator:	96 Sqn RAF
Registration:	N3376
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Park Road, Gatley, Cheadle, near Stockport, Cheshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Cranage, Middlewich, Cheshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Boulton Paul Defiant Mk.I N3376/'ZJ-E", 96 Squadron, RAF Cranage, Middlewich, Cheshire, Written off (damaged beyond repair) 30 April 1941 due to mechanical failure. Aircraft sustained engine failure at night (23:00 local time), both crew abandoned the aircraft, which crashed at Park Road, Gatley, Cheadle, near Stockport, Cheshire.

Crew:
The pilot was Sgt. Leslie Francis Ralls and the air gunner was Sgt. Phillips, both bailing out, both of whom were uninjured. Later that year, on 20th June 1941, Ralls made a forced belly landing in Defiant N3510. As a result of one or both of the above incidents Sgt Leslie Francis Ralls became medically unfit for further operational flying. He was reassigned to ground duties. Leslie Francis Ralls remained in the RAF postwar, was made an OBE (gazetted 1st January 1971) and he retired from the RAF on 20th December 1972 as a Wing Commander. He died in July 1976 in Hampshire.

The crash location of Gatley is the most westerly vicinity of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, and runs along the border of Stockport and Manchester. Until 1974 it was within Cheshire as a suburban township of Cheadle. It is approximately 3 miles (5 km) due northeast of Manchester Airport, 5 miles (8 km) west of Stockport town centre, 5.5 miles (9 km) east of Altrincham and 7 miles (11 km) south of Manchester city centre.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1977 p 20)
2. Eyes of the Night: Air Defence of North-western England, 1940–41 By Joe Bamford & Ron Collier
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16755403
4. 96 Squadron ORB for April 1941: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/764/12: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8384686
5. https://www.middlewich-heritage.org.uk/RAF_Cranage/raf-cranage-1941.html
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=N3376
7. https://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Ralls.htm
8. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/military/Crashes_Wales_and_West_Midlands.pdf
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._96_Squadron_RAF#World_War_II
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatley

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
15-Jan-2011 15:29	ThW	Added
12-Jan-2012 13:08	Nepa	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Narrative]
07-Sep-2013 04:07	JINX	Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Narrative]
24-Aug-2014 14:18	Charlie Harper	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Narrative]
30-Jul-2021 12:48	Anon.	Updated [[Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Narrative]]
02-Jul-2022 09:12	Nepa	Updated [Time, Cn, Location, Narrative, Operator]