Accident Sopwith Camel B5720,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 145123
 
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Date:Tuesday 2 April 1918
Time:
Type:Silhouette image of generic CAML model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Sopwith Camel
Owner/operator:S of SF RAF
Registration: B5720
MSN:
Fatalities:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location:Redcar Racecourse, near Redcar, North Yorkshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase: En route
Nature:Military
Departure airport:RAF Redcar, North Yorkshire
Destination airport:RAF Redcar, North Yorkshire
Confidence Rating: Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources
Narrative:
On 2nd April 1918 flying Sopwith Camel B5720, Charles Edward Pattison RAF (School of Special Flying RAF) hit overhead wires near Redcar Racecourse and crashed soon after, the wreckage caught fire which completely destroyed the aircraft. The pilot sadly died of his injuries, this was the first day the RAF was in existance and he was almost certainly one of the RAF's first casualties.

Pilot - Captain Charles Edward Pattison RAF of Winona, Ontario, Canada. Buried New Calton Burial Ground, Edinburgh.

Charles Pattison was born on 13th July 1896 in Glasgow, Scotland. He moved with his family to Canada at a young age and begun working at the Royal Bank of Canada on 2nd March 1914 prior to enlisting in Winona on 15th December 1915 into the RNAS. He is listed as serving with the French Army for several months and for this service he was awarded the French Croix de Guerre medal. He was buried in a very old burial ground in central Edinburgh.

Sopwith Camel B5720 was built by Clayton & Shuttleworth Ltd at Lincoln and delivered to the Home Defence Flight at East Fortune by road on 12th November 1917 where it served until being transferred to Redcar on 22nd March 1918. It probably served with the Home Defence Flight at Redcar but records are unclear. The RNAS H.D.Flt disbanded on 1st April 1918 and reformed as the RAF School of Special Fighting the next day, 2nd April 1918, the day Redcar became under RAF control. The aircraft was destroyed as a result of the accident recorded above and the aircraft was deleted on 13th April 1918.

Sources:

1. http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/planes/north/b5720.html
2. http://www.nelsam.org.uk/NEAR/Losses/Losses-PreWWII.htm
3. https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?115891-94-Years-ago-today
4. School of Special Flying Royal Air Force (School of Special Flying RAF)

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
18-Apr-2012 10:00 ryan Added
14-Feb-2017 16:48 Dr.John Smith Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
07-Feb-2019 05:25 stehlik49 Updated [Operator]
15-Feb-2021 20:25 Anon. Updated [Operator, Location, Source, Narrative, Operator]

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