ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 228112
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| Date: | Wednesday 22 May 1940 |
| Time: | 12:00 LT |
| Type: |  Hawker Hurricane Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 605 (County of Warwick) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | L2058 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | North of Arras, Pas de Calais, Hauts de France -
 France
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Hawkinge, Folkestone, Kent |
Hawker Hurricane Mk.I L2058 605 (County of Warwick) Sqaudron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (failed to return) from a combat air operation on 22 May 1940. Pilot survived, but was injured after bailing out by parachute due to a hard landing with the ground. Aircraft came down north of Arras, Pas De Calais, Hauts de France. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/522): "Hurricane L2058 in air operations over Northern France, 22 May 1940. Sergeant W M F Moffatt injured on landing by parachute"
Took off from RAF Hawkinge, Folkestone, Kent at 11:30 hrs local time for a combat air patrol over the Arras area. Probably shot down in air to air combat by return fire from one of the He 111s that the Hurricane was attacking. As stated above the pilot - Sgt William Michael Florance Moffatt (RAF 53837, New Zealand national) - bailed out successfully by parachute, but was injured on landing.
According to a testimony of the incident by Sgt. W M F Moffat himself:
"I abandoned the aircraft but was knocked out doing so. On regaining consciousness I opened the parachute at approximately 3,000 feet. I saw about twelve to fourteen Bf-109s reforming above me, when four peeled off from the left of their formation and dived on me in line astern. The first three dived past me very close but the last opened fire whilst I was facing it. All his fire went through my rigging lines and envelope, tearing the envelope considerably so that I landed heavily, breaking my left leg."
According to the squadron diary for the period (22 May 1940):
"2nd Patrol - May 22: Take off 11:30 hrs, landed 13:25 hrs. We were ordered to carry out a second sortie to patrol five miles south-east to five miles south-west of Arras at medium height and I was told to lead. The weather was cloudy and I kept losing sight of B Flight but out of a cloud from which I thought they should be emerging, I saw six aircraft in a similar formation. After a second look, I realized it was six Messerschmitt 109s closing up fast from the port quarter. I turned hard towards them and gave a long burst at the leader, we closed very rapidly and he opened fire but was way off target and he stopped firing and dived away in a spiral smoking and I changed to his No 3 who took no evasive action nor did he open fire at me. He went down and crashed near his leader. Looking for the others, I saw a Heinkel 111 which appeared to be damaged. I closed up and fired at it but after a few rounds my guns ran out of ammunition. P/O Graham Austin and Sgt Moffat did not return from the patrol. The rest landed at 13:25 hrs. Two Bf-109s destroyed, no damage to my aircraft. I realised I had been very wasteful with my ammunition firing a lot of bullets which were not necessary. We had been flying without armour plating but now it arrived and the airmen said they were going to have it fitted before we flew again operationally; they worked all night to try and install it in all the aircraft".
Sgt Moffatt returned to England, despite having a broken leg, but missed the Battle of Britain, as he was recovering from his injuries. In October 1940, he rejoined active service with the RAF as an Instructor with 7 SFTS and later 31 SFTS in Canada. He was killed on 19 December 1943 in the crash of Harvard AJ687 of 31 SFTS at Kingston,Ontario, Canada.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 15)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/532: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502020
3. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=7317
4. https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/raf-vs-luftwaffe-pilot-training-1940.46902/page-2#post-1344003
5. http://www.605squadron.co.uk/We%20Never%20Slept%20-%20The%20Story%20of%20605%20Squadron.pdf
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?369-W-O-W-M-F-Moffatt-RAF
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Aug-2019 20:16 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 11-Aug-2019 20:18 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 11-Aug-2019 20:20 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 13-Aug-2019 06:48 | stehlik49 | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
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