Blackburn B.2 G-ADFO near Newport, Brough.
During the morning of 3rd September 1940 this No.4 E.F.T.S. aircraft was being flown on a flight that included the pilot undertaking aerobatics. At 10.30hrs the aircraft's engine failed and the pilot made a forced landing near Newport but the aircraft over-ran the selected field and crashed into a hedge. Technically the aircraft should probably have been impressed into RAF service and carried a military registration but this never happened and it flew with its civilian registration.
Pilot - LAC John Michael Simmonds RAFVR (937545).
John Simmonds was later posted to 201 Squadron and was killed on 21st August 1941 when Sunderland W3982 failed to return from an operational flight. he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
The aircraft was built by The Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Co. Ltd. at Brough and registered to Flying Training Ltd
at London Aero Park, Feltham on 3rd April 1935. Flying Training Ltd carried out their flying from Hanworth aerodrome.
There is no record of this aircraft being transferred to 4 EFTS. The wreckage was taken to Brough and almost certainly it sustained Cat.W/FA in
this accident on 3rd September 1940. The civil registration was not cancelled by Flying Training Ltd until 14th July 1942.
The fuselage was salvaged in September 1940 and combined with Blackburn B2 G-ACBH's wings, this other aircraft had crashed
in March 1940 and after repair it continued to fly for some time so clearly G-ADFO did not exist after being used to make
up G-ACBH flyable.