Date:	Friday 14 June 1940
Time:	11:30 LT
Type:	Lockheed Hudson Mk I
Owner/operator:	224 Sqn RAF
Registration:	N7359
MSN:	B14L-1756
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North West of Stavanger -   Norway
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Leuchars, Fife
Destination airport:	RAF Leuchars, Fife

Narrative:
Lockheed Hudson Mk.I N7359 (QX-Q) 224 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from combat operations over Norway. Of the crew of four, two were missing, presumed killed, and two were captured to be taken as PoWs. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/898): "Hudson N7359 attacked over Stavanger, Norway on 14 June 1940. Sergeant W E Harding and Sergeant C L Hand: missing presumed dead. Pilot Officer T N C Rothwell and Pilot Officer R C Wood: prisoners of war"

Took off from RAF Leuchars, Fife, Scotland, at 09.35 hours. Shot down North West of Stavanger by Flak/AAA of the 3. Räumbootsflottille while on a special coastal reconnaissance mission.

Crew of Hudson N7359:
Pilot Officer Talbot Norman Conn 'Tolly' Rothwell (Pilot) RAF 41475; survived, captured, taken as PoW
Pilot Officer R.C. Wood, RAF 41514; survived, captured, taken as PoW
Sergeant Charles Lawrence Hand, RAFVR 544342, age 22, posted 14/06/1940, missing, presumed killed in action
Sergeant Walter Edmund Harding, RAF 627362, age 20, posted 14/06/1940, missing, presumed killed in action

Pilot, Pilot Officer Talbot Nelson Conn 'Tolly' Rothwell (1916-1981) was held in German captivity at Stalag Luft II, survived the war, and died in 1981, aged 64. He is perhaps best known as the scriptwriter for twenty of the thirty-one "Carry On" film series between 1960 and 1974. He also wrote for such TV series as Up Pompeii (BBC, 1969-70) and The Army Game (ITV, 1957). He was awarded an OBE in 1977. His biography (see link #7) notes:

"He was made a prisoner of war during World War II after being shot down over Norway. It was during this period, while incarcerated in Stalag Luft III, that he started to write. Peter Butterworth was in the same camp and the two became firm friends, with Rothwell mostly writing and Butterworth performing for camp concerts. This helped to relieve the boredom of camp life and the noise of the concerts helped cover tunnelling escape efforts". (Peter Butterworth (1915-1979) appeared in sixteen "Carry On" films, scripted by Talbot Rothwell).

As no trace of Sgt Charles Hand and Sgt Walter Harding was ever found, they are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1977)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/898: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502600
3. Ross McNeill, 'Coastal Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 1 (1939-1941)' p 41
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1799284/hand,-charles-lawrence/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1799379/harding,-walter-edmund/
6. http://www.science-bbs.com/152-military-moderated/c71991e242e7c9eb.htm
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talbot_Rothwell
8. http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/874397/index.html
9. https://www.carryon.org.uk/talbotrothwell.htm

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Sep-2019 16:43	Dr. John Smith	Added
27-Sep-2019 17:10	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
28-Sep-2019 10:18	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]