| Accession Number | P04362.002 |
|---|---|
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | |
| Maker |
Unknown |
| Place made | United Kingdom: England, Gloucestershire, Leighterton |
| Date made | c 1918 |
| Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
The original graves of three Australian Flying Corps (AFC) officers at Leighterton cemetery, ...
Description
The original graves of three Australian Flying Corps (AFC) officers at Leighterton cemetery, England. Left to right: Second Lieutenant Roy Lytton Cummings, No 5 (Training) Squadron, AFC, of Franklin, Tas; 747 Corporal Cadet (Cpl Cadet) Ernest Howard Jeffreys, No 6 (Training ) Squadron, AFC, of Hornsby, NSW; and Lieutenant (Lt) Charles William Scott, 58th Battalion attached AFC, of Ascot Vale, Vic. All three officers were killed in a flying accident at Minchinhampton aerodrome on 28 August 1918. At 7.25 am on the morning of 28 August, Flying Instructor Cummings and his pupil, Lt Scott, were flying above the aerodrome when a pupil from another squadron flying by himself, Cpl Cadet Jefferys (who had been ordered to practise turns), collided with Cummings' aircraft at a height of 1,500 feet. Both machines crashed to earth, killing all three occupants instantly. Following an inquest into the incident, a verdict of accidental death was reached in the cases of all three AFC officers.