Corporals Charles Maurice Thorpe and Basil Francis Evans
Corporal Charles Maurice Thorpe standing beside a Tiger Moth during his flying training.
[Courtesy of Jenny Dewhirst]
An early wartime loss
Charles Thorpe and Basil Evans were two very early wartime casualties who lost their lives in an Oxford 1, N4592, when they crashed just south of the Lammerlaw in the Lammermuir hills of East Lothian on the 26th October, 1939. The cause of the crash is not yet publicly known but details of it may lie in the Public Record Office at Kew in AIR 81/1605.
We know very little about Corporal Basil Evans, neither age nor birthplace appear to have been recorded in accessible sources. He is recorded as 'Pilot' in the grave records but it isn't clear whether this refers to his position or whether he was flying the Oxford at the time of the crash.
Charles Thorpe, born on the 28th October, 1916, was the son of Charles and Annie Thorpe and lived his youth in Uppingham, Rutland in England. He attended Oakham School as a day boy from 1928 till 1933, played for their rugby team and notched up a number of prizes in Mathematics. He decided to pursue a career in the RAF, perhaps having watched aircraft at nearby RAF Spanhoe , and he enlisted as an RAF apprentice in September, just a few weeks after leaving Oakham school. He was accepted for flying training and passed out of Cranwell in July 1936. He was then posted to continue his training with 13 SFTS and he made his way to RAF Drem.
The crash in which both men lost their lives happened on the 26th October, 1939. Their aircraft dived into the heather-clad hills just south of the Lammerlaw, a gentle peak some 1732' (528 mtrs) high. A young boy, who visited the site after first looking at the wreck of Heinkel 1H JA, (the Kidlaw Heinkel) which was shot down nearby two days afterwards, wrote that the debris was spread over a very wide area and that locals basically helped themselves to whatever they could find, including the engines. That nothing now remains on the crash site isn't surprising, considering the aircraft was largely made of wood.
Both men are buried in Dirleton cemetery, East Lothian.
We know very little about Corporal Basil Evans, neither age nor birthplace appear to have been recorded in accessible sources. He is recorded as 'Pilot' in the grave records but it isn't clear whether this refers to his position or whether he was flying the Oxford at the time of the crash.
Charles Thorpe, born on the 28th October, 1916, was the son of Charles and Annie Thorpe and lived his youth in Uppingham, Rutland in England. He attended Oakham School as a day boy from 1928 till 1933, played for their rugby team and notched up a number of prizes in Mathematics. He decided to pursue a career in the RAF, perhaps having watched aircraft at nearby RAF Spanhoe , and he enlisted as an RAF apprentice in September, just a few weeks after leaving Oakham school. He was accepted for flying training and passed out of Cranwell in July 1936. He was then posted to continue his training with 13 SFTS and he made his way to RAF Drem.
The crash in which both men lost their lives happened on the 26th October, 1939. Their aircraft dived into the heather-clad hills just south of the Lammerlaw, a gentle peak some 1732' (528 mtrs) high. A young boy, who visited the site after first looking at the wreck of Heinkel 1H JA, (the Kidlaw Heinkel) which was shot down nearby two days afterwards, wrote that the debris was spread over a very wide area and that locals basically helped themselves to whatever they could find, including the engines. That nothing now remains on the crash site isn't surprising, considering the aircraft was largely made of wood.
Both men are buried in Dirleton cemetery, East Lothian.
Charles Thorpe's gravestone in Dirleton cemetery.
[David Haire]
Basil Evans gravestone, Dirleton cemetery.
[David Haire]
