On 5th September 1918 this aeroplane stalled while flying at between 700 and 1000 feet and spun into the ground near Marske killing the pilot. It was thought that had the pilot pushed the flying control stick forward and dived, he could easily have recovered the aeroplane as the stall at occurred well above the height from which this was not possible but it appeared that he had not done this. Sopwith Camel E1455 was built by Ruston, Proctor & Co Ltd at Lincoln and was under the care of No.2 Fighting School at the time. Exactly where the aeroplane crashed is not known, it was probably in the Marske area and the pilot's death was registered in the Guisborough district in which Marske lies.
Pilot - 2Lt Gerald Hugh Smyth RAF, aged 21. Buried Trumpington Churchyard, Cambridgeshire.
Gerald Smyth was born on 15th May 1898 and was the eldest son of Mr and Mrs John Smyth, of Cambridge. He was educated at the Perse School, Cambridge. He was keenly interested in flying from an early age but being too young to take up a commission he joined the Royal Navy driving armoured cars seeing service in Belgium, France, Russia, Turkey, Romania, Galicia (Spain), and the Caucasus. For his services rendered in Russia he was awarded the Russian St.Stanislas medal and the medal of St.Anne. On his return to England transferred to the RNAS and was granted a commission in the RNAS in January 1918. He transferred to the newly created RAF in April 1918 and was posted to No.2 Flying School at Marske on 11th August 1918 and also being promoted to the rank of Second Lieut after being awarded his Wings.