ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 90909
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| Date: | Sunday 26 May 1940 |
| Time: | 09:47 |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire Mk Ia |
| Owner/operator: | 65 (East India) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | P9437 |
| MSN: | 600 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | English Channel NW of Calais, between Calais and Dunkirk -
 France
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Hornchurch, Essex |
P9437: Spitfire Mk.Ia (c/no. 600). First Flown 29-3-40. Delivered to RAF at 6 MU 1-4-40. Issued to 65 Squadron 11-5-40. Shot down by AAA during combat with Bf-110s near Calais Flying Officer J Welford killed 26-5-40. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/576): "Flying Officer J H Welford: report of death; Spitfire P9437 in air operations over the French coast, 26 May 1940".
Took off from RAF Hornchurch, Essex for a combat air patrol over Calais and Dunkirk areas. Shot down by German Luftwaffe fighter ace Fw Erich Rudorffer 2./JG 2 - North West Calais: 2.500 m. 09.45 (his 5th victory in air to air combat). Pilot of Spitfire P9437 was Flying Officer John Hylton Welford, whose parachute did not have time to deploy, and he was killed
Crew of Spitfire P9437:
Flying Officer (Pilot) John Hylton Welford, RAF 39588, age 22, killed in action 26/05/1940, buried at Minster (Thanet) Cemetery, Kent, UK
According to a contemporary newspaper report ("Kent & Sussex Courier" - Friday 31 May 1940):
TONBRIDGE FLYING OFFICER KILLED.
The death is announced of Flying Officer John Hylton Welford, eldest son the late Mr. Hylton Welford and of Mrs. Welford, of 12, Thorpe Avenue, Tonbridge, who was killed in action this month. Flying Officer Welford was at Tonbridge School from 1931-36 and represented the school at squash racquets, being awarded his Colours in 1936."
John Hylton Welford: Born Dec 1917 Morpeth, Northumberland. Note that several unofficial published sources state that the Flak/AAA that brought down Spitfire P9437 was "friendly fire" - that is British AAA and not enemy AAA, and NOT by air to air combat with the enemy.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 53)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/576: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502214
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2654782/welford,-john-hylton/
4. http://www.luftwaffe.cz/rudorffer.html
5. http://web.archive.org/web/20130812142230/http://don-caldwell.we.bs:80/claims/tonywood.htm
6. http://web.archive.org/web/20171009223940/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/Bailouts/bailout_1940-01.htm
7. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/65_squadron.html#2605
8. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p009.html
9. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?action=printpage;topic=11728.0
10. http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/raf-losses-may-1940-an-update.16940/page-14#post-199769
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-May-2011 15:00 | ThW | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 24-May-2011 15:03 | ThW | Updated [Narrative] |
| 25-Apr-2013 01:33 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 27-May-2013 06:01 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
| 16-Aug-2019 01:00 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Cn, Location, Source, Narrative] |
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