Date:	Saturday 8 June 1940
Time:	15:15 LT
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk I
Owner/operator:	12 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L5546
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Lamaronde, 8 km NW of Poix-de-Picardie, Somme -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Sougé, France
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Fairey Battle Mk.I L5546 (PH-U) 12 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from combat operations over Northern France. Two of the three crew were killed, one survived to be taken as a PoW. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/833): "Battle L5546 crashed near Poix, France, 8 June 1940. Leading Aircraftman C S Burt and Sergeant J P Boddington: report of deaths. Flying Officer T F S Brereton: prisoner of war"

At approximately 3.15 pm on the 8th June 1940, this aircraft was carrying out a low-level attack on German armoured columns west of Aumale, when it was shot down by a Bf 109 of Stab I (J) LG2 flown by Hauptman Hannes Trubenbach. The pilot, Flying Officer Bereton, baled out and was captured, but regretably his observer, Sergeant JP Boddington, and gunner LAC CS Burt, were both killed in the crash.

Crew of Battle L5546:
Flying Officer T.F.S. Brereton (Pilot), RAF 39651; bailed out, survived, but captured and taken as a PoW. Interned in PoW Camps 12A/L3 as PoW No.2264
Sergeant (Observer) John P. Boddington, RAF 523009, age 27, killed in action 08/06/1940
Leading Aircraftman (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) Charles S. Burt, RAF 542020, age 20, killed in action 08/06/1940,

Both crew fatalities were buried at Abbeville Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France. The crash site was excavated in 2005. In 2006 a memorial in Lamaronde was dedicated to the crew. This consisted of a memorial plaque, and one propeller blade from Battle L5546 recovered from the crash site. The engine is now on display at the Kent Battle of Britain Museum.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 36)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/833: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502556
3. The Battle File (Sidney Shail, Air Britain, 1997 p 154)
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2952536/boddington,-john-percy/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2952547/burt,-charles-sydney/
6. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/12_squadron.html#0806
7. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=1940
8. http://dunkirk1940.org/index.php?&p=1_198
9. https://www.aerosteles.net/steleen-lamaronde-fbattle
10. https://www.aviationarchaeology.co.uk/battle-l5546-lamaronde

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
18-Sep-2019 20:12	Dr. John Smith	Added
24-Sep-2019 12:07	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]