Date:	Saturday 25 October 1941
Time:	22:07
Type:	Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I
Owner/operator:	125 (Newfoundland) Sqn RAF
Registration:	T3985
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Park Crescent, Skewen, Neath, South Glamorgan, Wales -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Fairwood Common, Glamorganshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I T3985, 125 (Newfoundland) Squadron RAF: On 25th October 1941 during a night patrol the aircraft hit a barrage balloon cable. Both crew members were able to abandon the aircraft prior to it crashing into the ground at Park Crescent, Skewen, Neath, South Glamorgan. However, the pilots chute did not open in time to save him, and his body was discovered 200 yards north of the crash site

Crew:
Sgt (NZ402170) Clive Alan Gillions DALE (pilot) RNZAF baled out too low and his parachute failed to open and he was killed.
Sgt (NZ40600) John Barron BAYLISS (Air Gunner) RNZAF - successfully baled out, slightly injured in "hard" parachute descent.

Sgt Dale is buried at Killay (St Hillary of Poictiers) Churchyard.
R.I.P.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft T1000-V9999 (James J Haley, Air Britain, 1997)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR81/9850: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16998097
3. 125 Squadron ORB for October 1941: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/922/4: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8387464
4. Glamorganshire Police reports for 1939-41. (Glam PRO; DCON/279/7).
5. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?12863-Defiant-T3985-of-125-Squadron.
6. http://www.ggat.org.uk/timeline/pdf/Military%20Aircraft%20Crash%20Southeast%20Wales.pdf
7. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2717280/dale,-clive-alan-gillions/
8. https://aircrewremembered.com/dale-clive-alan.html
9. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25152339/clive-alan_gillions-dale
10. https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/clive-alan-gillions-dale
11. http://ciapoldiescorner.blogspot.com/2009/10/events-for-25th-october.html
12. https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C20012
13. https://www.doogal.co.uk/ShowMap?postcode=SA10%206SG

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
10-Oct-2013 07:03	Nepa	Added
11-Nov-2014 14:20	Pepa	Updated [Location]
05-Jun-2015 18:48	Scout	Updated [Source, Narrative]
20-May-2019 00:08	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative]
18-Aug-2020 08:25	Oezil	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative, Operator]
22-Apr-2022 18:41	Nepa	Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator]
06-Jul-2022 22:17	angels one five	Updated [Location, Narrative]