ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 206351
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Sunday 18 August 1940 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: | Handley Page HP.54 Harrow |
| Owner/operator: | Flight Refuelling Ltd. |
| Registration: | G-AFRL |
| MSN: | K7027 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
| Other fatalities: | 28 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | HMS Peregrine, RNAS Ford, Yapton, West Sussex, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Standing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | HMS Peregrine, RNAS Ford, West Sussex |
Ex-RAF Harrow K7027 (former RAF serial used in Air Ministry documentation in lieu of any official Handley-Page c/n). First civil registered as G-AFRL [C of R 9048] on 6.3.39 to [officially] The Secretary of State for Air, Air Ministry, London WC.2. Actually operated by Flight Refuelling Ltd (FRL - so notice the slightly "contrived" registration...) and based at Ford Aerodrome, Yapton, West Sussex.
Flight Refueling Ltd operated three HP.54 Harrow aircraft; the other two were G-AFRG and G-AFRH, which were "stranded" in Canada at the outbreak of WW II on 3.9.39 (and later impressed into the Royal Canadian Air Force as RCAF 794 and 795). All were used for early experiments and trials into air-to-air flight refuelling, and refuelled Short Empire Flying Boats on transatlantic services from early August 1939, two from Gander, Newfoundland and one based in Foynes, Ireland. In 1940, the two aircraft based at Gander were impressed into service with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
G-AFRL was the Foynes based tanker aircraft, and was returned to Ford, after sixteen in-flight refuelled transatlantic flights were completed, due to the transatlantic flying boat service being terminated at the end of September 1939. It was written off (destroyed in an air raid) on 18.8.40 at HMS Peregrine, RNAS Ford, Yapton, West Sussex
On the 18.8.40 RNAS Ford (HMS Peregrine) came under attack from a formation of German Stuka dive bombers. The air raid resulted in 28 dead and many more injured as well as the devastation caused to the airfield buildings and runways. The final resting place of several of those killed can be seen in Clymping Church yard.
Registration G-ARFL belatedly cancelled by the Air Ministry post war, on 2.4.46 as "destroyed by enemy action 1940"
Sources:
1. http://afleetingpeace.org/index.php/15-aeroplanes/80-register-gb-g-af
2. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AFRL.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_G-A11.html
4. https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-g-afrl-handley-page-hp54-harrow-of-flight-refuelling-ltd-seen-here-83443346.html
5. http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Trempe/2725.htm
6. http://www.impdb.org/index.php?title=File:AVION_FLIFUE_BF.jpg#filelinks
7. http://www.impdb.org/images/f/fe/AVION_FLIFUE_BC.jpg
8. http://yaptonhistory.org.uk/places/ford-aerodrome/rnas-ford-hms-peregrine/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 19-Feb-2018 23:07 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 22-May-2019 18:04 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Other fatalities] |
| 09-Feb-2021 10:25 | TGM | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Operator] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation