Vickers Virginia K2680 near Brough.
On 21st December 1936 this 214 Squadron aircraft was making an approach to land at Brough airfield when one of the crew fell out of the aircraft. Unfortunately he died minutes after hitting the ground as he was not wearing a parachute. The aircraft then landed at Brough and the remaining crew of four were asked what the ballast was they had dropped prior to landing, as they had not intentionally dropped anything they went to the rear of the aircraft to find the fifth member of the crew missing. His body was found in a field near Brough. The 214 Squadron records do not list this incident so learning further details are hard. The aircraft does not appear to have sustained any damage.
? - P/O Charles Robert Hart RAF (S.No.?), aged 24, of Skinningrove, Yorkshire. Buried Brotton Church Cemetery, North Yorkshire.
Pilot - S/Ldr Joseph Henry Hargroves RAF (07128). Uninjured.
Three other crew - Names unknown. Uninjured.
Joseph Hargroves was posted to 214 Squadron on 4th June 1936 and to 37 Squadron on 26th April 1937. W/Co Hargroves was killed on 5th July 1940 while serving with 101 Squadron when Blenheim N6140 crashed off the Island of Sylt. He is buried in Kiel War Cemetery and was thirty nine years old.