B.E.2e 7227 near Alwoodley Gates, Leeds.

At 20.40hrs on Tuesday, 2nd July 1917 the pilot of this No.76 Home Defence Squadron, Royal Flying Corps aeroplane took off to undertake a night flying training exercise. From which aerodrome is unclear. 76 Squadron had the use of Ripon, Helperby and Copmanthorpe aerodromes that would have all been well within range of the aeroplane's eventual crash site. Ripon is quoted in the National Archives file "air1/680/21/13/2207". The pilot appears to have become lost and had flown much too far west of all the aerodromes at his disposal. It was later thought that the pilot must have considered making a forced landing while in the Alwoodley Gates area and that he had allowed the flying speed to drop causing the aeroplane to stall in a turn and dive into the ground. The pilot was killed in the crash and it would be some time before the wreckage was located. At 07.30hrs the following morning the crashed aeroplane was discovered by a farm labourer, Tom Davidson, in a field twenty yards off Alwoodley Lane and in the Eccup reservoir area. The pilot's body was located with his watch found stopped at 00.04hrs. At the inquest held for the pilot it was stated that he had been involved in a road accident the Friday before and it was questioned whether this may have affected his judgement though his commanding officer ruled this out.

Pilot - 2Lt Geoffrey Lionel Eliot RFC, aged 28. Buried St.Pancras Cemetery, London.

Geoffrey Eliot was born in 1889 in London and married Kathleen Irene Tredray in 1911. Sadly they had a baby daughter born in 1914 but she died at only a few days old. He enlisted into the Royal Flying Corps, possibly as an Air Mechanic 2nd Class, serving in France in 1915 though possibly not undertaking flying duties but later was granted a commission in the Royal Flying Corps.

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