Date:	Monday 10 June 1940
Time:	night
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk I
Owner/operator:	103 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L5246
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	La Ferté-Villeneuil, Eure-et-Loire -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Ouzouer-le-Doyen, France
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Fairey Battle Mk.I L5246 (PM-A) 103 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from a combat mission on the night of 9-10 June 1940. All three crew survived, but one was seriously injured. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/843): "Battle L5246 suffered engine failure during air operations over La La Ferté-Villeneuil, France, 10 June 1940. Squadron Leader H G Lee; injured"

Airborne from Ouzouer-le-Doyen, France for a night mission to bomb bridges and enemy troop columns in support of allied troops in the area of Basse-Seine. Engine problems on return from this operation. Crew unable to find airfield in the dark, and aircraft was abandoned in the area of Verdes. All three crew bailed out by parachute safely, but Squadron Leader Lee broke his right leg landing by parachute, and was taken to hospital at Le Mans (Sarthe) and then evacuated to the UK. The other two crew were apparently uninjured.

Crew of Battle L5246:
Squadron Leader Harold Gibson Lee (pilot): Bailed out, Injured and hospitalised at Le Mans with a fractured right leg.
Sgt Derrick Norrington, DFM (Observer); bailed out, uninjured
LAC Alfred Norman Werner (Wireless Op./Air Gunner)

When Harold Gibson Lee recovered he was promoted to Wing Commander and posted to 24 Squadron, where he took over command of this unit for three months from April 1941. This period was not a happy one it seems. Harold was relieved of his command in June 1941 and then shunted around various stations for several months.

At this juncture he requested to be retired, but told this was not possible as there was a war on, but he could resign if he wished - which he did. When he arrived home in Australia, Harold got a post with Quantas and flew Catalinas from Ceylon to Perth when the Australia/England air link was re-established in 1943.

Battle L5246 was one of two 103 Squadron Fairey Battles lost in this operation - the other was P2328. The reported crash location of La Ferté-Villeneuil is a former commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. at approximate Coordinates: 47°59′00″N 1°20′43″E

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/843: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502649
3. The Battle File (Sidney Shail, Ait Britain, 1997 p 146)
4. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=6231
5. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/103_squadron.html#091006
6. https://www.northlincsweb.net/103Sqn/html/103_squadron_-_op_battle_area_-_09-06-40_-_s-l_h_g_lee_afc.html
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Fert%C3%A9-Villeneuil
8. https://www.northlincsweb.net/103Sqn/html/37-40_vignettes.html
9. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10130634

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-Sep-2019 17:39	Dr. John Smith	Added
20-Sep-2019 17:46	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
24-Sep-2019 12:13	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]