Date:	Monday 21 July 1941
Time:	day
Type:	Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I
Owner/operator:	456 Sqn RAAF
Registration:	T3933
MSN:	473
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Llanerch-y-medd, Anglesey, Wales -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Valley, Anglesey
Destination airport:	RAF Valley, Anglesey

Narrative:
Boulton Paul Defiant Mk.I T3933, 456 Squadron, RAAF: Written off (destroyed) 21 July 1941. Departed RAF Valley for a routine solo training flight and crashed near the village of Llanerch-y-medd, Anglesey, Wales. RAF pilot Sgt A.F Brookes was killed in the crash. According to some sources, this pilot was the first fatality for 456 Squadron RAAF. Reason for the crash are unknown

Crew of Defiant T3933:
Sergeant (1166497) Alan Fincher Brookes RAFVR, Pilot aged 25: killed on active service 21 July 1941, buried at Maeshyfryd Burial Board Cemetery, Holyhead, Anglesey

456 Squadron RAAF was formed on 30 June 1941 at RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales, in the United Kingdom under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme as a night-fighter squadron, equipped with Defiant turret-fighters. The squadron was soon re-equipped with Beaufighters (between September and November 1941) and scored its first kill in January 1942.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft T1000-V9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1997)
2. Bennett, J. (John William) Fighter Nights: 456 Squadron RAAF, Banner Books Belconnen ACT 2617, 1995
3. 456 Sqn RAAF ORB for July 1941: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/7754: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16757051
5. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2716018/alan-fincher-brookes/
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/air81/index.php
7. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/defiant.htm
8. https://www.valleyaviationsociety.co.uk/the-australian-connection
9. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/108113984/alan-fincher-brookes
10. https://aviationmuseumwa.org.au/afcraaf-roll/456sqn-410721-t3933/
11. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/military/Crashes_Wales_and_West_Midlands.pdf
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._456_Squadron_RAAF
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llannerch-y-medd

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
26-Mar-2016 21:14	Paul McGuiness	Added
03-Sep-2017 15:53	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative]