SN
Thanks again for your informed and considerate assessment (noting of course that we don't have all the facts before us). I suppose now that I'm over the shock of these revelations so long after the event, I can contact the RAF Museum at Hendon - they have a Dept. of Research & Information Service and will have the RAF Form 1180 Accident Card for the A/C plus the findings of the court of enquiry. I am grateful also to the PPRuNe member who contacted me by private message and directed me to other forums who have steered me towards the relevent archives. However, whatever is revealed by my inquiries, I will be fortified by the content of your last two paragraphs.
As I said, I just wanted to learn something about the procedure, before engaging with the guardians of the records of the event.
Does your PPRuNe handle mean you knew Statocruisers? I remember an article by Ernie Gann in which he described the propellers as "four villains dancing in a row"- so evocative of those different times - & different airplanes.
Thanks again and Good Night