Date:	Monday 20 May 1940
Time:	15:30
Type:	Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Owner/operator:	85 Sqn RAF
Registration:	P3426
MSN:	VY-R
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Amiens, Somme department of the Picardy region -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Merville, Lille, France
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Hawker Hurricane Mk.I P3426 (VY-R) 85 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (failed to return) from combat operations (Ground strafing), over Arras. 20.5.1940. Pilot killed. Shot down by Bf-109s while ground strafing enemy columns east of Arras. Possibly the Hurricane claimed as shot down by Lt Heymann of 4./JG3. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/637): "Pilot Officer R W Shrewsbury and Pilot Officer R W Burton: report of deaths; Hurricane crashed near Arras, France, 20 May 1940"

Although as stated above, the Hurricane was claimed to have been shot down, the official Air Ministry file implies that the two 85 Squadron Hurricanes collided over Arras, possibly during evasive manoeuvres, killing the pilots of both aircraft.

Crew of Hurricane P3426:
Pilot Officer (Pilot) Richard W. Shrewsbury, RAF 41874, age 19, killed in action 20/05/1940, buried at Arras Communal Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 20)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/637: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502058
3. Peter D. Cornwell, The Battle of France, Then and Now, 2008
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2278676/shrewsbury,-richard-william/
5. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=749
6. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/85_squadron.html#2005
7. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=12421

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

11 May 1940	N2388	85 Sqn RAF	0	between Tongres and St Trond, near Maastricht, Limburg		w/o
19 May 1940	P2923	85 Sqn RAF	0	near Lille		w/o
18 August 1940	P2923	85 Sqn RAF	1	sea 30 miles East of Clacton, Essex.		w/o

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
08-Jun-2015 12:55	Thomas Fuk	Added
08-Jun-2015 12:56	INV	Updated [Registration]
08-Jun-2015 17:44	SIS07	Updated [Departure airport]
24-Aug-2019 23:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
01-Sep-2019 01:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Other fatalities]