Airco DH.4 A7986 near Bedale.
On 25th January 1918 this No.52 Training Squadron aeroplane spun into the ground in the Bedale area during a training flight with the pilot, based at Catterick, lost control. The aeroplane was completely destroyed and the pilot killed. It was not possible to determine any technical fault owing to the aeroplane being totally destroyed. The pilot's death was registered in the Bedale district so must have been outside of the general area of Catterick aerodrome.
Pilot - 2Lt John Frederick Cheesman RFC, aged 24. Buried Ipswich Old Cemetery, Suffolk.
John Cheesman was born on 10th December 1892 at Battersea, London where his father was a clerk at a Union Workhouse. He initially served in the Royal Engineers and was living at Claydon, Suffolk when he enlisted in February 1915. In December 1915 his unit went to France. In Spring 1917 he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. He received a commission in June 1917 and was posted to No.52 Training Squadron on 3rd July 1917.