Date:	Saturday 8 June 1940
Time:	09:25 LT
Type:	Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Owner/operator:	32 Sqn RAF
Registration:	N2582
MSN:	GZ-F
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Fief-Thoubert, St-Saëns, Seine-Maritime, Normandy -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Biggin Hill, Bromley, Kent
Destination airport:	RAF Biggin Hill, Bromley, Kent

Narrative:
Hawker Hurricane Mk.1 N2582 (GZ-F) 32 Squadron RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) for a combat air patrol over Northern France. Pilot killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/813): "Hurricane N2582 crashed at Saint-Saens, France, 8 June 1940. Pilot Officer G I Cherrington: report of death"

Airborne from RAF Biggin Hill, Bromley, Kent, for a combat air patrol over the Le Tréport-Aumale sector. Shot down by Bf-109s of III./JG 26 during attack on He 111s of I./KG.1 over Rouen and crashed at Fief-Thoubert, St-Saëns, Seine-Maritime, Normandy, France at 9.25 a.m. Pilot killed.

Crew of Hurricane N2582:
Pilot Officer (Pilot) Geoffrey Inglesby Cherrington, RAF 42589, killed in action 08/06/1940, buried at Ste. Marie Cemetery, Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, France

The remains of Geoffrey Cherrington were originally buried alongside the crash site on or about 8 June 1940, but were re-interred as an 'Unknown Airman' (with a formal grave marker) on June 4, 1941. Post-war excavation of the site by the MREU (Missing Recovery Enquiry Unit) in October 1947 discovered aircraft serial N2582 on pieces of the wreckage and a serial number on the engine, at the crash site, thus confirming the identity of the pilot. The allowed the CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) to erect a formally marked grave at Ste. Marie Cemetery in Le Havre

The reported crash location of Fief-Thoubert, St-Saëns, is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France, 19 miles (31 km) southeast of Dieppe, at approximate Coordinates: 49°40′N 1°17′E

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1977)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/813: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502536
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2095052/cherrington,-geoffrey-inglesby/
4. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=4719
5. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/32_squadron.html#0806
6. Hurricane Squadron Ace: The Story of Battle of Britain Ace, Air Commodore Peter Brothers CBE DSO DFC (pages 55-56) By Nick Thomas
7. http://www.fallenheroesofnormandy.org/Servicemen/Detail/21619
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Sa%C3%ABns,_Seine-Maritime

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

2 June 1940

P2727

32 Sqn RAF

0

North Sea off Calais, Pas de Calais

w/o

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
14-Sep-2019 17:24	Dr. John Smith	Added
17-Sep-2019 20:10	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Operator]