ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 225493
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| Date: | Saturday 7 September 1940 |
| Time: | 17:00 LT |
| Type: |  Hawker Hurricane Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 242 ("All Canadian") Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | P2962 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Blackacre, off Theydon Park Road, Theydon Bois, Essex -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Coltishall, Norfolk |
Hawker Hurricane Mk.1 P2962 of 242 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) on combat operations on September 7 1940. Aircraft came down in a field at Blackacre, off Theydon Park Road, Theydon Bois, Essex, between Theydon Bois and Debden stations on the Central Line of the London Underground. The Pilot failed to bail out, and was killed.
The impact left the aircraft buried eighteen feet below ground. No remains were found at the time, and the incident was all but forgotten.
In 1976 members of the London Air Museum learned of the crash while excavating another site at the Wake Arms, and decided to investigate. They discovered a number of items which proved to come from a Hawker Hurricane, including a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. Human remains were also found, which were handed over to the police for investigation. A Coroner’s inquest was held in Epping, but this proved inconclusive, as it was not possible to identify either the pilot or the plane. The remains were interred at Brookwood Military Cemetery, in a grave marked “Unknown RAF Pilot”.
In 1981 the site was re-excavated in an effort to find some evidence as to the identity of the pilot, but unfortunately nothing more conclusive came to light. Altogether the RAF lost seventeen aircraft on 7th September, of which five were unaccounted for and listed as “Missing in Action”. By process of elimination, it is believed by a number of aviation historians that the aircraft concerned was Hurricane P2962 of 242 Squadron (commanded at the time by Douglas Bader), piloted by Pilot Officer John Benzie, a Canadian, although this has never been confirmed.
Crew: (Believed to be) Pilot Officer John Benzie (Service Number 42185, aged 25, Canadian) - killed
It is firmly believed that aircraft parts excavated from the site belong to an aircraft from 242 Squadron that went missing on this date. Hawker Hurricane 1, P2962, was built by Gloster Ltd, as one of 500 built in that company's first batch started in 1939 and completed in 1940. Delivered to the RAF in late May 1940 it had only been delivered to 242 Squadron four days earlier. 242 Squadron, based at Coltishall, Suffolk, was being led by the famous legless pilot, Squadron Leader Douglas Bader when it set off on a mission with other units in a Big Wing formation that Saturday afternoon. The pilot of P2962 was Pilot Officer Benzie, a Canadian by birth.
The Big Wing became embroiled in battle over the Thames Estuary with mixed formations of enemy fighter aircraft over South-East Essex. Eleven victories were claimed, but two aircraft failed to return. One pilot was accounted for when he turned up safely later, but Benzie never returned. Subsequently a Canadian Lake was named after him.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P2962 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1976)
2. http://www.rbl-epping.org.uk/Royal_British_Legion,_Epping_%26_District/EPPING_AIR.html
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1083856/benzie,-john/
4. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?2694-P-O-John-BENZIE-date-of-birth
5. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/1083856
6. http://rcafassociation.ca/heritage/1914-1945/battle-of-britain/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 26-May-2019 23:14 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 30-May-2019 12:47 | stehlik49 | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
| 13-Apr-2020 14:31 | INV | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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