Date:	Friday 27 August 1943
Time:	night
Type:	Boulton Paul Defiant TT Mk I
Owner/operator:	1623 (AAC) Flt RAF
Registration:	DR921
MSN:	962
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Rame Head, SW of Rame, Rame Peninsula, Cornwall -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Robrorough, Plymouth, Devon
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Boulton Paul Defiant TT.Mk.I DR921. 1623 (AAC) Flight RAF: Written off (destroyed) 27 August 1943 when crashed after hitting balloon cable at Rame Head, South West of Rame, Rame Peninsula, Cornwall. The 1623 (AAC) Flight ORB states "night towing aircraft collided with balloon cable, and crashed. Pilot F/Sgt HIGGS and Wireless Operator F/Sgt GOWANS were both killed. Investigation is now in progress."

Crew of Defiant DR921:
Flight Sergeant Douglas Herbert HIGGS (656853) Pilot RAFVR aged 24 - killed on active service 27 August 1943, buried at Efford Cemetery, Plymouth, Devon
Flight Sergeant James William GOWANS (987869) Wireless Op aged 21 - killed on active service 27 August 1943, buried at Seaham Cemetery, Seaham, County Durham

Rame Head is a coastal headland, southwest of the village of Rame in southeast Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is part of the larger Rame Peninsula.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft DA100-DZ999 (James J Haley, Air Brtiain, 1987)
2. 1623 (AAC) Flight ORB 1/2/1943 to 30/11/1943: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR29/880/21 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7162021
3. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2442036/douglas-herbert-higgs/
4. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2696302/james-william-gowans/
5. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?19888-F-Sgt-James-William-GOWANS-987869-killed-August-27th-1943-Plymouth&p=116327#post116327
6. http://www.rafweb.org/Members%20Pages/Casualties/1940s/1943/Casualties_1943_08-10.htm
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rame_Head

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
09-Feb-2008 09:23	JINX	Added
12-Feb-2012 12:05	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Narrative]
19-Aug-2014 17:37	Jixon	Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Phase, Source, Narrative]