ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 228830
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| Date: | Saturday 1 June 1940 |
| Time: | morning |
| Type: |  Hawker Hurricane Mk 1 |
| Owner/operator: | 43 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | N2584 |
| MSN: | FT-J |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | English Channel, near Dunkerque, Pas de Calais, Hauts de France -
 France
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Tangmere, Chichester, West Sussex |
Hawker Hurricane Mk.I N2584 (FT-J) 43 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (failed to return) ftom a combat air patrol over Dunkirk, France. Pilot bailed out and survived. According to the official Air Ministry file into the accident (File AIR 81/759): "Hurricane N2584 failed to return from air operations over Dunkirk, France, 1 June 1940. Flying Officer M K Carswell: missing, later reported safe"
According to a biography of the pilot for this period:
"On 9th February 1940 Carswell was one of a section chasing a He111 which was attacking a cargo ship off the coast between Acklington and Rosyth. His engine suddenly failed and, being too low to bale out, he decided to ditch his Hurricane (L1744) close to the ship. The aircraft went straight down but Carswell managed to extricate himself. He could not inflate his life jacket and tried to swim through the freezing choppy sea to the ship, which was about a mile away. He passed out and came to in the ship, now docked at Rosyth. His life had been saved by the crew giving him artificial respiration.
Carswell was off flying for three months but arrived back just in time to fly south with 43 Squadron to Tangmere on 31st May. The next day he was shot down in flames over Dunkirk in Hurricane N2584 and baled out. He landed very near the front line and after convincing French soldiers that he was on their side, he was taken to an emergency hospital in Dunkirk. He boarded a destroyer under Stuka dive-bomber attack and finally reached England where he was taken to hospital, arriving there in the evening of the same day he had taken off from Tangmere.
Recovered, Carswell returned to 43 Squadron. On 2nd September, in a combat over Ashford, Carswell's Hurricane P3786 was hit and caught fire. He baled out, burned on legs, arms, hands and face and with cannon shell splinters in his chest and thigh. After leaving hospital Carswell was grounded for medical reasons and took up fighter control duties".
Crew of Hurricane N2584
Flying Officer Malcolm Keith Carswell (pilot, New Zealander, aged 25) - wounded in action
Malcolm Keith Carswell was born in Invercargill on the South Island of New Zealand on 25th July 1915.Towards the end of 1945 Carswell applied for discharge in the UK and was released from RAF service on 26th January 1946. He settled in Rome, Italy where he worked in the film and theatre field. He later founded the Intercontinental Club there, a cultural exchange forum. He later retired to Australia and died there on 7th July 2003, a few days before his 88th birthday.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1977)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/759: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502368
3. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=7561
4. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/43_squadron.html#0106
5. http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Carswell.htm
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 7 June 1940 | L1847 | 43 Sqn RAF | 1 | Grcyval, 2 km SW of Bailleul-Neuville, Seine-Maritime, Normandy | |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 09-Sep-2019 17:52 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 17-Sep-2019 20:01 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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