Date:	Monday 13 May 1940
Time:	day
Type:	Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Owner/operator:	73 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L1673
MSN:	TP-P
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Bétheniville, Marne department in northeastern France -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Bétheniville, Marne department in northeastern France
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Hawker Hurricane Mk.I L1673 (TP-P) 73 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) in combat operations on 13 May 1940. crash-landed near Bétheniville, Marne department in northeastern France, after combat with Do 17 and Me 110's - believed abandoned. Pilot - Pilot Officer Roy A. Marchand, RAF 42070 - bailed out but was injured. According to a biography of the pilot:

"Suddenly in combat against a numerically superior Luftwaffe, the RAF squadrons were hard pressed to stop the relentless advance of the enemy. Battling hard in many dogfights, 73 Squadron was in constant action and Roy Marchand put in a claim for an ‘unconfirmed’ Dornier Do17 bomber in the early hours of 13th May, but on this day whilst flying his Hurricane L1673 in combat with Do17’s and Messerschmitt Me110 fighters, he was wounded in the shoulder and beneath his left eye.

Evacuated back to Great Britain to recover from his injuries, more bad luck followed when he and his young wife were badly hurt in a car accident. With extended sick leave, P/O Marchand missed the Allied retreat to Dunkirk and the final evacuation from France. It wasn’t until early July, 1940, that he returned to his Squadron, now stationed at Church Fenton in North Yorkshire, where it was recuperating and re-equipping for its new role as a night defence squadron".

P/O Roy Marchand was killed on 15/09/1940 in Hurricane P3865 while still with 73 Sqaudron.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978)
2. Norman L.R. Franks, Fighter Command Losses, Vol 1, 1939-1941, Second edition, Midland, 2008
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIRB 81/315: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14142164
4. H.L. Thompson, New Zealanders with the Royal Air Force, Historical Publications Branch, Wellington (NZ), 1953
5. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/73_squadron.html#1305
6. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=700

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-Mar-2008 21:18	JINX	Added
04-Jan-2012 12:49	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Phase]
20-Apr-2015 23:07	angels one five	Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Nature, Narrative]
07-Jan-2016 22:05	JIXN	Updated [Operator, Country, Source, Narrative]
02-Jul-2019 20:37	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Date, Time, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Country, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
02-Jul-2019 20:37	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Date]
04-Jul-2019 06:40	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]