Help Required To Identify Crashed Biplane

Greetings to all from the South Seas!

I recently joined your group in the hope that someone can identify a photo I have of a crashed WW1 biplane. Because my area of aviation expertise is primarily post WW2 I can only make an educated guess that it's a Sopwith Pup.

The only information I can provide is that the aircraft's serial number is C2969 and the pilot was a John McDermont, a Scot-turned-Kiwi who flew with either the RFC or the Royal Naval Air Service. Judging by the buildings in the background the crash appears to have occurred in England.

I have gone through all the WW1 aircraft serial numbers on ‘The Aerodrome’ website and could only find C2960, a DH 9 of 104 Squadron.

The photo in question can be viewed by clicking on the following link, if anyone can identify the where, when and why I would be most grateful.

http://uploads.bestupload.com/users/...rash_photo.jpg

Yours sincerely

Stephen Berry
Wellington
New Zealand