Date:	Tuesday 14 May 1940
Time:	11:45 LT
Type:	Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Owner/operator:	73 Sqn RAF
Registration:	N2334
MSN:	TP-Q
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Neuville-Day, 4 km from Voncq, Ardennes -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Hawker Hurricane Mk.I N2334 (TP-Q), 73 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) 14 May 1940 when lost (failed to return) from a combat air patrol. Shot down by Oblt. Hans-Karl Mayer in a BF 109 of 1./JG 53, pilot bailed out but killed. According to the official Air Ministry file on the incident: "Sergeant T B G Pyne: killed; crashed, enemy action, Lamur, [*sic] France, Hurricane N2334, 73 Squadron, 14 May 1940".

Five Hurricanes of 73 Squadron scrambled at 11.45 on 14 May, in pursuit of bombers reported attacking a convoy on the Givet-Namur road. They however became involved in combat with German fighters and F/L Scoular claimed a Bf110 (possibly from III/ZG 26) after having silenced the rear gunner and forced it to retire. Four of the five 73 Squadron aircraft were shot down.

Crew of Hurricane N2334
Sergeant (Pilot) Thomas Basil George Pyne, RAF 565921, aged 24, killed in action 14/05/1940, buried at Choloy War Cemetery, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France

*"Lamur" is believed to have been a transcription error for "NAMUR" which is in Wallonia, Belgium. However a crash site investigation (see link #6) gives the crash location as "800 meters from the centre of Neuville-Day, 4 km from Voncq". The reported location of Neuville-Day is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France, at approximate Coordinates: 49°29′46″N 4°41′21″E.

Note that unofficial published sources give the aircraft involved as P2812 (also of 73 Squadron) which was also shot down near Namur, Wallonia, Belgium, the same day

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1977)
2. Norman L.R. Franks, Fighter Command Losses, Vol 1, 1939-1941, Second edition, Midland, 2008
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/2104: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16471434
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2319903/pyne,-thomas-basil-george/
5. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/73_squadron.html#1405
6. http://lepiegedesedan.e-monsite.com/pages/des-visites-des-crashs.html
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuville-Day

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Jun-2011 01:54	ThW	Added
04-Jan-2012 12:28	Nepa	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative]
18-Jul-2019 21:40	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Registration, Cn, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Source, Narrative]
18-Jul-2019 21:47	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
18-Jul-2019 21:55	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Country, Source, Narrative]
30-Jun-2022 05:06	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]