Date:	Friday 21 June 1940
Time:	day
Type:	Bristol Bombay Mk I
Owner/operator:	216 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L5850
MSN:	SH.42
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 5
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Libyan Desert, en route to el-Gubbi, east of Tobruk -   Libya
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	El Daba, Libya
Destination airport:	El Gubbi, Libya

Narrative:
Bristol Bombay Mk.1 L5850 (SH-N) 216 Squadron, RAF. Written off (destroyed) when crashed in the Libyan Desert on 21 June 1940. Four of the five on board were killed, one became a PoW. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/969): "Bombay L5850 crashed at Tobruk, Libya, 21 June 1940. Temporary Warrant Officer N P Donnelly: prisoner of war. Sergeant B T M Baker, Corporal W C Royle, Leading Aircraftman A F Crohill and Flight Lieutenant J B W Smith: report of deaths

Written off (missing presumed crashed and destroyed) 21.6.40: The aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances in the Libyan desert while on its way to el-Gubbi, east of Tobruk. Warrant Officer N. P. Donnelly survived and became a PoW while four other occupants were killed.

Crew:
Flight Sergeant (Pilot) Benjamin T.M. Baker, RAF 563729, age 27 - killed on active service 21/06/1940
Leading Aircraftman Alfred F. Crohill, RAF 518932 - killed on active service 21/06/1940
Corporal (W. Op./U/T. Air Gnr) William C. Royle, RAF 518637, age 23 - killed on active service 21/06/1940
Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) John B.W. Smith, RAF 37214 - killed on active service 21/06/1940
Temporary Warrant Officer N P Donnelly - POW

The four fatalites were all buried at Knightsbridge War Cemetery, Acroma, Libya

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1978)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/969: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502420
3. A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940–1945: North Africa By Christopher Shores, Giovanni Massimello, Russell Guest
4. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/216_squadron.html
5. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-bristol-130-bombay-i-libya-4-killed
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2096002/baker,-benjamin-thomas-morgan/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2096442/crohill,-alfred-francis/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2383054/royle,-william-charles/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2383204/smith,-john-basil-wentworth/
10. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?1047-Unaccounted-members-500-Sqdn-June-1940

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
30-Mar-2008 23:02	JINX	Added
10-Jul-2015 19:52	Faun	Updated [Operator, Narrative]
22-Jan-2016 07:06	Anon.	Updated [Total occupants, Source, Narrative]
18-Apr-2019 19:07	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
19-Apr-2019 17:46	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn]
01-Oct-2019 22:15	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]