Date:	Monday 9 November 1942
Time:	15:15
Type:	Boulton Paul Defiant I
Owner/operator:	2 DF RAF
Registration:	N3444
MSN:	389
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Harrowbeer, Yelverton, Devon, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Colerne, Chippenham, Wiltshire
Destination airport:	RAF Harrowbeer, Yelverton, Devon

Narrative:
Boulton Paul Defiant N3444, 2 Delivery Flight RAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 9 November 1942 when dived into ground near the airfield perimeter after engine failure on delivery flight. Both crew killed. According to the following extract from the RAF Barrowbeer ORB:

"On the 9th" [November 1942] "A Defiant, N3444, was being delivered to RAF Harrowbeer by No. 2 Delivery Flight, when the Defiant appeared over the airfield at 15.15 hrs, the engine cut out and the aircraft dived into the ground just inside the perimeter fence at Leg O' Mutton, a few yards from the present day memorial stone, Unfortunately both crew members it's pilot Flt/Sgt S.A.Watkins and it's passenger Flt/Sgt D.F.Small were killed, and some customers of the nearby cafe had a lucky escape, when part of an undercarriage leg from N3444 came crashing through a glass window and landed amongst the tables.'

Crew of Defiant N3444:
Flight Sergeant Douglas Francis SMALL (1112034) RAFVR Pilot - killed on active service 9 November 1942, buried at Tollcross (Central) Churchyard
Flight Sergeant Sydney Arthur WATKINS (1063008) RAFVR Pilot - killed on active service 9 November 1942, buried at Putney Vale Cemetery And Crematorium, Putney, London SW.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain 1977 p 20)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81
3. RAF Harrowbeer ORB for November 1942: National Archives (PRO Kew)
4. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2840949/douglas-francis-small/
5. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2429751/sydney-arthur-watkins/
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=N3444
7. https://aircrewremembered.com/AircrewDeaths39-47/?q=SMALL%2C+Douglas+Francis&qand=&exc1=&exc2=&search_only=&search_type=exact
8. https://aircrewremembered.com/AircrewDeaths39-47/?q=WATKINS%2C+Sydney+Arthur&qand=&exc1=&exc2=&search_only=&search_type=exact
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Harrowbeer

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
04-Feb-2008 14:23	JINX	Added
07-Jan-2012 03:50	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Phase]
24-Aug-2013 18:15	JINX	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Destination airport, Source]
22-Apr-2015 20:27	King T.	Updated [Operator, Narrative]