On 17th August 1915 this aeroplane was being flown on a night flight when it flew into the ground near Redcar. The aircraft was damaged and the pilot was badly shaken. Prior to my webpage being updated I had been given information that the aeroplane and pilot were part of the RNAS Flying School at Redcar but the pilot's service records do not state he was training at Redcar but part of intelligence. He and the aeroplane may have actually been part of the Home Defence Flight at RNAS Redcar. His service file gives entries for hospitalisation during early 1916 for neuritis which he claimed which came about following a flying accident at Redcar.
Pilot - FSL Edmund Parfitt Hardman RNAS.
Caudron G.III 3872 was built by Aeroplanes Caudron, France and was delivered to RNAS Redcar Flying School on 12th July 1915, the following day it was tested and accepted. After the accident detailed above it was deemed beyond economical repair and deleted from stock on 5th September 1915.
Edmund Parfitt Hardman was the son of John Bernard Hardman KSG, and was born in the West Bromwich area of Birmingham on 4th July 1888. He gained his Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate (Cert.No.1389) on 5th July 1915 at the Grahame-White Flying School, Hendon. His service records state he was posted to Redcar (Intelligence) on 12th August 1915. On 3rd January 1916 he was admitted to Chatham Hospital suffering from neuritis. After various assessments he was declared fit on 11th March 1916 and posted to serve in No,2 Wing Eastern Mediterranean. On 4th August 1916 he made a claim for compensation for illness which he alleged was due to an accident during a night flight at Redcar. In November 1916 he contracted malaria and was posted back to the UK in December 1916. Once fit he returned to duty. On 20th May 1917 he made a forced landing at Westgate aerodrome and injured his right ankle. Once fit in February 1918 he returned to duty and transferred to the RAF on it's formation in April 1918. He was awarded the DFC for his service in WW1, Gazetted on 1st January 1919. Post WW1 he remained in the RAF and was posted between bases in England and Middle East until 1924 when nothing more is known about his service but it is probable that he left the RAF having served the terms of his short service commission. On 26th August 1923 he was involved in a car accident at Jerusalem. He either remained in the RAFO or gave his services in the mid 1930s to the RAFO as he later relinquished his commission of F/Lt in the RAFO on 30th June 1940 in preparation for transferrring to the RAF. On 2nd July 1940 he was granted a commission in the RAF as P/O on probation. He rose to F/O on 3rd October 1940 and F/Lt on 2nd July 1941. He later rose to S/Ldr (possibly Acting rank) and was in the Equipment Branch by the end of 1941 when he relinquished his commission in the RAF on appointment to the RAFVR, back dated to 2nd July 1940. After a remarkable period of service he finally reliquished his commission of F/Lt (retaining the rank of S/Ldr) on 1st July 1954. He died on 8th August 1961 and is buried in Arundel Roman Catholic Cemetery, West Sussex. His son, WO Gordon Edmund Bernard Hardman RAFVR (1394564) was killed on 24th July 1943 while serving with 103 Squadron in Bomber Command.
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