ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 221715
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| Date: | Wednesday 22 May 1940 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Hawker Hurricane Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 605 (County of Warwick) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | P3575 |
| MSN: | UP-F |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Arras, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France -
 France
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Hawkinge, Folkestone, Kent |
| RAF Hawkinge, Folkestone, Kent |
Hawker Hurricane P3575 (UP-F) of 605 (County of Warwick) Sqaudron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (failed to return) for a combat air patrol over the Arras area on 22 May 1940. Pilot survived, slightly injured (broken nose), and aircraft deliberately destroyed by pilot to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/529): "Pilot Officer C F Currant: injured; Hurricane P3575 hit by enemy gunfire, 22 May 1940"
Hurricane flown by Pilot Officer Christopher Frederick "Bunny" Currant was shot down by a Heinkel 111 of JG 3. Currant made a forced landing in a field sustaining a broken nose. He had stated to bail out, but then changed his mind and force landed the Hurricane. He set fire to his aircraft before escaping to the coast where he was repatriated to the UK by boat the same day.
According to a published history of 605 (County of Warwick) for the period (22 May 1940): "Shortly after 4.30 the call came for the Squadron to scramble and patrol the Calais and Boulogne areas. No enemy aircraft were sighted on this patrol, but later that day after another scramble a group of Heinkel 111s were sighted. Jock Muirhead destroyed one and Mike Cooper-Slipper shared another. Whilst patrolling the Arras area of France the Squadron were jumped by a group of Bf-109s. This was not to prove a very successful first encounter with Germany's front line fighter, with Bunny Currant having to make a forced landing in France and suffering a broken nose. Graham Austin's Hurricane was also hit and set on fire with one enemy bullet hitting him in the left leg, but in spite of this wound he was able to bail out near Vermelles. Both Bunny and Graham were fortunate in that they both came down near to the Allied lines and Graham was evacuated from Dunkirk to Newhaven aboard a hospital ship. After a short spell at a civil hospital at Barnet he was transferred to Torquay. Bunny also returned by ship and made it back to Hawkinge that same day".
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 21)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) Air 81/529: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502017
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunny_Currant#Second_World_War
4. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1513432/Wing-Commander-Bunny-Currant.html
5. http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Currant.htm
6. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/wing-commander-bunny-currant-6chwhxl8tdw
7. http://www.605squadron.co.uk/We%20Never%20Slept%20-%20The%20Story%20of%20605%20Squadron.pdf
8. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=7556
9. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/605_squadron.html#2205
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Feb-2019 15:12 | rodinbangor | Added |
| 11-Feb-2019 13:05 | stehlik49 | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative] |
| 11-Aug-2019 00:59 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Cn, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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