At 11.00hrs on 28th May 1918 this aeroplane was undertaking a training flight with No.2 School of Aerial Fighting and Gunnery when the engine failed. It crashed near Marske injuring both men. The pilot later reported that the controls had jammed.
Pilot (Instructor) - Lt Gerald Stuart McGregor RAF. Slightly injured.
Pilot (Pupil) - 2Lt Harold Richard Sutton Eason RAF. Seriously injured.
Gerald McGregor was born on 29th April 1888. He received a commission in the Royal Flying Corps in June 1916. He was posted to Marske on 7th February 1917 and joined No.4 (Auxillary) School of Aerial Gunnery. Transferred to the RAF in April 1918 when it formed then joined No.2 School of Aerial Fighting and Gunnery on 6th May 1918 when it formed out of the period No.4 School. He served as an instructor. He was treated at Red Barns Hospital, Redcar for a period of time and the injuries he sustained in May 1918 saw him taken off flying duties. He was assessed in August and also November 1918 and passed fit for ground duties only. He was then transferred to the Unemployed List on 13th January 1919 and left the forces.
Harold Eason was born on 16th March 1896 at Geelong, New South Wales, Australia and was the son of (Liverpool-born) Richard and Minnie Ethel (nee Brown) Eason. The family emigrated to Bloemfontein, South Africa in 1908 and and as a young man worked as a clerk for an accountant. He was granted a commission in the Royal Flying Corps in October 1917. In April 1918 he transferred to the RAF on it's formation then was posted to Marske on 13th May 1918. Following the crash on 28th May 1918 he was admitted to hospital and returned to flying duties on 2nd October 1918. He was then posted to No.46 Training Depot before the end of the month. He was injured on 2nd November 1918 when a Sopwith Pup crashed near Lincoln while training with No.46 Training Depot Station and these injuries must have been worse than those sustained at Marske. He was sent to a convalescence hospital at Portsmouth on 31st December 1918 and in April 1919 he returned to No.46 T.D.S. In June 1919 he was posted back to South Africa and placed on the Unemployed List on 12th July 1919. He became an accountant, married three times and died in 1972. he is buried at Memoriam Cemetery, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
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