Date:	Monday 13 May 1940
Time:	17:00 LT
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk I
Owner/operator:	226 Sqn RAF
Registration:	P2353
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Brussels/Evere Airfield, Brussels -   Belgium
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Champagne Aerodrome, Rheims, France
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Fairey Battle Mk.I P2353 (MQ-M) 226 Squadron, RAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) when force landed at Brussels Aerodrome, Brussels, Belgium, 13 May 1940. According to the official Air Ministry file on the incident (File AIR 81/326): "Battle P2353 crashed at Brussels Aerodrome, Belgium, 13 May 1940. Pilot Officer M W Waddington: injured".

The overall British commander, Air Marshal Barratt dispatched 226 Squadron's Battles on only one small operation, on this date, during which a No. 226 Squadron aircraft was brought down after being hit by Flak/AAA over a cross-roads near Breda. Battle P 2353 was airborne from Reims/Champagne with orders to block roads in the Boeimeer/Rijsbergen area, SW of Breda (Noord-Brabant), Holland. Forced landed at Brussels Aerodrome, near Brussels, Belgium. Wrecked airframe handed over to the Belgians, probably for use as spares for its own aircraft.

Crew of Battle P2353:
Pilot Officer W.M. Waddington - Injured
Sgt G. Stephenson - uninjured, returned to unit
LAC J. Hope - uninjured, returned to unit

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 13)
2. The Battle File (Sidney Shail, Air Britain, 1997 p 168)
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/326: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502320
4. Peter D. Cornwell: The Battle of France, then & now. After the Battle
5. W R Chorley: RAF Bomber Command losses of the second world war, 1939-1940. Midland Counties Publications
6. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/226_squadron.html
7. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showpost.php?p=187196&postcount=2
8. https://www.luchtvaartgeschiedenis.be/content/battle-p2353-bij-brussel
9. https://100548.activeboard.com/t10177849/raf-aircrafts-mia-on-may-13-1940-over-belgium/?sort=newestFirst&page=1

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
05-Jul-2019 00:31	Dr. John Smith	Added
05-Jul-2019 00:36	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
08-Jul-2019 05:45	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
28-Jun-2022 02:00	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]