On 19th August 1943 the pilot of this glider was undertaking a heavily loaded trial flight, on his approach to land the aircraft struck a hay stack and crashed. The glider was badly damaged.
Pilot - F/Lt Robert Kronfeld AFC RAFVR (78782).
Robert Kronfeld was born on 5th May 1904 in Austria. He was a gliding pioneer in his early life designing and flying gliders in Germany and later in England, he was the first pilot to fly a glider across the English Channel in 1931. From 1933 being Jewish prevented him flying under Nazi regulations so he came to live in the UK and continued his glider pioneering work before WW2. Linked to my Yorkshire related aviation research, he was employed / invited to fly with the Scarborough Aero Club and during one demonstration crashed into the sea. He gained British citizenship in 1939. During WW2 he joined the RAF with whom he was able to develop military gliders at the A.F.E.E. He was granted a commission in the RAF to the rank of P/O on probation on 15th April 1940 in the Admin and Special Duties Branch of the RAF but transferred to the General Duties Branch on 3rd October 1940. He was confirmed as P/O on 1st April 1941 and rose to F/O (war subs) on 21st September 1941 and to F/Lt on 21st September 1942. As F/Lt he was Commended for Valuable Service in the Air on 1st January 1943 and was then awarded the Air Force Cross on 2nd June 1943. On 12th February 1948 he was testing a General Aircraft Limited, GAL.56/01 glider near Lasham when it entered an uncontrollable inverted dive and crashed. Sadly he was killed in the crash and was later cremated at Golders Green.
