Date:	Wednesday 4 February 1942
Time:
Type:	Hawker Hurricane Mk II
Owner/operator:	249 (Gold Coast) Sqn RAF
Registration:	Z4003
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Off Malta -   Malta
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:
Destination airport:

Narrative:
At 1450 hrs on 4 February 1942, eleven Hurricanes of 126, 242 and 249 Sqn RAF were scrambled from Malta to intercept a raid consisting of three plots of six aircraft and three plots of three aircraft approaching from the north. They failed to make contact with the bombers who dropped bombs on Takali airfield, and near San Biagio church. Takali camp was attacked with large bombs, presumed to be mines. Headquarters and Billet of Section, Equipment and Parachute Section, Malta Night Fighter Unit, 242 Sqn Offices and A/Cs offices were badly damaged and rendered unusable. Evacuation of HQ and other buildings was ordered. The aerodrome surface was badly cratered and made partly unserviceable. There were a number of casualties, including LAC Alexander Dey Robinson of 249 Sqn, who was mortally wounded and died the next day.

Meanwhile in the air, the 249 Sqn section led by Flt Lt Crossey was joined by a pilot of 126 Sqn who had become separated from his own section, but the five Hurricanes were then bounced by Bf 109s of JG 53, which promptly shot down three of them. One of the two remaining pilots, Plt Off Moon, later reported:
"Crossey shot up into the clouds, but the first I knew of an attack was when I looked either side and saw both Hurricanes falling in flames. Two Messerschmitts sped past without hitting me and I became involved in a series of dogfights for about 15 minutes, squirting at several 109s. Once they had departed Control ordered me to orbit the oil slicks where the Hurricanes had gone in. I said there was no point, there were no survivors but was ordered to remain as a rescue launch was on its way. After about 15 minutes I called Control who told me to return since the rescue launch had been shot up by 109s."

Four Hurricanes, two Swordish and an ASR launch, HSL 129, were sent out to search for the missing pilots, the launch heading for a point four miles south-south-east of Benghaisa Point. Near Filfla two Bf 109s of 6./JG 53 swooped down on the rescue craft, killing AC Gerald "Gerry" Raymond King who was manning the front turret. During a second pass the skipper, Flt Lt Victor Albert Nicolls, was mortally wounded and died seven days later, while the aft-turret gunner, LAC Thomas "Tom" Peter Logan Griffith, was hit in the left side and thigh; nonetheless, he continued to man his gun but was killed during the third attack. The coxswain, Cpl Theodore "Theo" Lorraine Nielsen, was also killed and his deputy wounded, although the latter managed to get the badly damaged launch back to Kalafrana. Silent spectators gathered as HSL 129 limped slowly into view, engines faltering and backfiring, and the forward gun cupola splashed with blood from the dead gunner. The launch would be out of action for a month.

All three shot down pilots were killed: Plt Off John Graham Kenelm Hulbert of 249 Sqn, a 19-year old from Woodgreen in Hampshire, aboard the Hurricane II Z4003, 21-year-old Sgt Hugh John McDowall of 249 Sqn from Manchester aboard the Hurricane II Z4016 and Plt Off Basil William ‘Rocky’ Main of 126 Sqn aboard the Hurricane II BV167. Three German pilots claimed Hurricanes in this battle, Lt Karl-Heinz Preu of Stab./JG 53 one at 1550 hrs (German time, 1450 British time) as his 7th victory, Maj Günther von Maltzahn of Stab/JG 53 one at 1553 hrs as his 56th victory and Lt Herbert Soukup of Stab II./JG 53 one at 1600 hrs as his first.

The only damage noted by the Luftwaffe was to a Bf 109 of 5./JG 53, which sustained slight shrapnel damage from an AA burst over Valetta.

"Malta: the Spitfire year. 1942", by Christopher Shores, Brian Cull and Nicola Malizia. ISBN 0-948817-16-X
"249 at Malta. Malta’s top-scoring Fighter Squadron 1941-1943", by Brian Cull with Frederick Galea. ISBN 99932-32-52-1
https://maltagc70.wordpress.com/2012/02/04/4-february-1942-five-hour-air-raid/
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx
http://www.worldmilitair.com/Countries%20Serials/uuuu/uk/00z0000.pdf
http://www.worldmilitair.com/Countries%20Serials/uuuu/uk/bv100.pdf

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-Sep-2017 20:43	Laurent Rizzotti	Added
30-Oct-2018 04:48	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]