1918 light aircraft crash near Wynols Hill (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Friday, March 13, 2015, 19:48 (3553 days ago) @ Jefff

I've just spent an interesting (to me at least ! ...) hour or two researching what aerodromes and airfields there were near the Dean during WW1, on the assumption the Broadwell plane was probably a military one and probably from not too far away.
That said, wouldn't it be great if it had been built or flown by a Forester !

It seems that the vast majority of Gloucestershire military airfields only date back to WW2, with a profusion across the Severn but not on our side. It seems that WW1 flying in Glos' was largely around the Cirencester area, with training flights out of Aston Down (Michinhampton) airfield. The old newspapers report several fatal accidents from there (in the early years of the War it's thought as many fliers died while training as they did while fighting).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aston_Down

Similarly those military airfields that may have been active across the border were probably on the coast, to defend against fear of airship attacks?, near Cardiff and Swansea. Herefordshire airfields ie Credenhill is of WW2 origin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_former_Royal_Air_Force_stations

The newly-formed Gloster Aircraft Company in Cheltenham were subcontract-building 45 Bristol F2b Fighters a week by mid 1918, these were taken by road to an Air Board Acceptance Park at Brockworth for final assembly and flight testing. These "Brisfits" were designed by the very important and much larger Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton, they'd been supplying huge numbers of RFC aircraft since their inception into Service c1911.
http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Gloster_Aircraft_Co
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Aeroplane_Company

Some new aircraft for the Western Front were flown across the Channel to France (summer weather permitting) rather than by ship in crates, but how they all got across England to airfields such as Lympne near Folkestone I don't know, altho some were definitely taken by rail in crates. However that doesn't explain why a plane from say Brockworth would be over the Forest. British RFC/RAF aeroplanes saw service in the Middle East, maybe via Bristol or even Cardiff docks, they presumably arrived there by rail already crated for shipping ?

My guess is the incident at Broadwell was a plane enroute from Brockworth to Cardiff, or more likely Filton; probably forced to land due to mechanical problems or bad weather, while following the Severn or GWR lines as was normal practice. I don't know for sure but I doubt those training at Aston Down etc would have crossed the Severn, they would generally stay much nearer their home field.

Now for someone to, hopefully, post what aircraft type it was, please. Even if my guesswork is proven wrong, I'm always happy to be corrected in search of the facts.
J