We received the following message from Mike Lindsay in
Nov 2011 relating to his uncle and a crash which took place on 2 FTS
at RAF Digby in 1927. If you can add any detail or confirm any element
of it, please contact the website or email
mike AT sailplane.demon.co.uk
My uncle Ernest had a "Terrible Crash" when he was
training with 2 FTS my mother told me when I was 8. As he was recovering
his CO came to see him and said "Look here, Martin you and I know
the accident was your fault. Normally you could expect a court martial,
but if you are prepared to resign NOW (November 1927) we can forget all
about it"
So he did. There is nothing
in the operations diary about any accident at the time (April 1927)
but there is a note that P/O Blatchford
was
killed flying alone in an Avro in May.
I suspect he died a few days
after the crash, and that although the record shows P/O Blatchford
was alone, my uncle was in fact with
him.
I would dearly like to find
out what really happened. I told this tale to an ex RAF officer; he
said "Sounds like a cover up to me"
That may well be, not something that occurs to you when you are eight.