On 7th September 1916 the engine of this RNAS aeroplane failed in the air and the pilot attempted a force-landing near Redcar but the it overturned on touching down and was wrecked. It was serving with the RNAS Flying School at the time. The pilot received no serious injuries but his service file states he was badly shaken.
Pilot - Probationary FSL John Manners Mapplebeck RNAS. Slightly injured.
John Mapplebeck was born in the Dolgelly area of Merionethshire (now Gwynedd), Wales on 23rd June 1894, by the 1911 census he was living in Kings Norton, Worcestershire where he worked as a motorcycle test rider for Burman and Co. He enlisted into the RNAS on 22nd May 1916 and underwent some pilot training at RNAS Redcar Flying School. He was posted to RNAS Cranwell on 4th November 1916 where he gained a Royal Aero Club aviators' certificate (Cert.No.4250) there on 6th January 1917 but he could not pass the course that would see him graduate as an RNAS pilot. His commission in the RNAS was terminated on 11th April 1917. He later joined the RFC but doesn't appear to have served anywhere but No.2 S or A (whatever that means). He would then have transferred to the RAF when it formed in April 1918. His service file in AIR76 does not state when he left the RAF so I assume he continued into the 1920s. He appears to have died in 1979 in Canada.
Caudron G.III 3867 was built by Aeroplanes Caudron at Lyon, France and was purchased as new by Britain. It was delivered to R.N.A.S. Redcar Home Defence Flight on 29th July 1915 but was then transferred to R.N.A.S. Scarborough Home Defence Flight on 4th August 1915. It was tested and accepted on 8th August 1915 and carried out an Anti Zeppelin Patrol (AZP) on 10th August with FSL Roche at the controls. It transferred to R.N.A.S. Atwick Home Defence Flight on 11th August 1915 then moved back to R.N.A.S. Scarborough Home Defence Flight on 10th September 1915. Here it suffered a landing accident on 14th September 1915 but no record of where it was repaired exists. It was back in service at R.N.A.S. Redcar on 21st October 1915, probably with the Flying School and later suffered a more serious accident on 7th September 1916 at Redcar that saw a Cat.W damage assessment and it was deleted on 19th September 1916.
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