On 15th December 1942 this No.4 Elementary Flying Training School aircraft was being flown on a training exercise and was probably being flown on an aerobatic part of the exercise at the time of this incident. It was seen to fly inverted at around 1000 feet above the ground for a short period but when the pilot attempted to roll the aircraft back to normal flight the nose of the aircraft dropped and it dived into the ground near North Farm, Blacktoft. Both men flying in the aircraft were killed. It was thought that the aerobatic part of the flight was begun at too low an altitude so that there was no room for error.
Tiger Moth T7226 was built to contract 20916/39 by Morris Motors Ltd. at Cowley and was awaiting collection in December 1940. It only served with 4 E.F.T.S. at Brough but the date it was taken on charge by them is not known. As a result of this crash on 15th December 1942 the aircraft was written off with Cat.E2/FA damage being recorded on the paperwork.
Pilot (Instructor) - F/O Albert William Middleton Anderson-Parfett RAF (47272), aged 28. Buried Llandrillo-yn-Rhos (St.Trillo) Churchyard, Denbighshire, Wales.
Pilot (Pupil) - LAC Derick George Turner RAFVR (1603594), aged 19, of Wimbledon. Buried Gap Road Cemetery, Wimbledon, Surrey. la1565
Albert Anderson-Parfett was born on 6th June 1915. He was initially an officer in the Royal Signals in the early part of the War. On 11th October 1941 he was granted a commission of P/O (temp) in the
RAF and was promoted to F/O (war subs) on 1st October 1942. His casualty file gives information that he was married to Beatrice Violet Griffiths in Rochford, Essex on 16th August 1934. They later appear to have seperated but never divorced. She then learned from the RAF that her husband was to be buried in Wales on the wishes of his wife (ie, a second wife whose family lived in North Wales). It later transpired that the second wife was not actually his wife and they were never married despite living together at Brough airfield under the guise of being married. She (Miss Owen) gave the RAF instructions to have her "husband" buried in a family plot that also contained the grave of her mother. The first wife made requests to have his body exhumed and buried under her wishes but this was not granted by the RAF despite other members of the Owen family being unhappy about the airman being buried in the same grave as their mother. The second "wife" had also begun to claim living allowances which were later reclaimed and paid to the correct first wife. The current CWGC database and records correctly list the first wife as his next of kin. The name of the second "wife" is not named in his casualty file.
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