Date:	Thursday 13 June 1940
Time:	10:30 LT
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk I
Owner/operator:	150 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L5437
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Merey, 19 km ESE of Evreux, Eure 27 -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Houssay, Loire-et-Cher, France
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Fairey Battle Mk.I L5437 (JN-C) 150 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from combat operations over Northern France. All three crew killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/1127): "Battle L5524 [*sic] crashed at Merey, France, 13 June 1940. Sergeant R C Beale, Sergeant H J F Tutt and Corporal D B Carter: report of deaths"

Airborne 10:05 hrs from Houssay, Loire-et-Cher, France, to attack roads around Vernon-Poix de Picardie. Shot down by Lt. Stange, Me109 of 3/JG3, during attack on enemy column between Vernon and Evreux at 10:30 near Merey (Eure), 19 km ESE of Evreux, Eure, Normandy, France. No survivors among the crew of three

Crew of Battle L5437
Pilot Officer (Pilot) Roy Cuthbert Beale, RAF 44679, age 26, killed in action 13/06/1940
Sergeant (Observer) Harold James Frank Tutt, RAF 506095, age 32, killed in action 13/06/1940
Sergeant (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) Douglas Barfield Carter, RAF 534454, age 22, killed in action 13/06/1940

All three crew fatalities were buried at Merey Communal Cemetery, Eure, Normandy, France.

Note that the official Air Ministry file AIR 81/1127 contains an error: The Fairey Battle involved in the above incident was L5437 and NOT L5224. Both aircraft were Fairey Battles of 150 Squadron, RAF, both took off from the same place to attack the same targets, and both were shot down on the same day and at about the same time. However, the crew of Fairey Battle L5224 were Pilot Officer (Pilot) Alfred R. Gulley, RAF 33385 (killed) Sgt Berry (survived, captured and became a PoW) and LAC D.L.Phillips (Survived, captured and became a PoW, but later evaded capture).

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1978)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/1127: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502939
3. The Battle File (Sidney Shail, Air Britain, 1997 p 151)
4. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/150_squadron.html#1306
5. https://www.aerosteles.net/steleen-merey-battle
6. http://www.oldhaltonians.co.uk/pages/rememb/ROH/22.htm
7. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=1151
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2320857/beale,-roy-cuthbert/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2320859/tutt,-harold-james-frank/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2320858/carter,-douglas-barfield/

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
16-Oct-2019 14:56	Dr. John Smith	Added
27-Oct-2019 22:10	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]