Date:	Thursday 19 June 1941
Time:	day
Type:	de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth II
Owner/operator:	Coltishall SF RAF
Registration:	N6835
MSN:	82084
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North Sea, 1/4 mile north of Southwold, Suffolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Farnborough, Hampshire
Destination airport:	RAF Coltishall, Norfolk

Narrative:
de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth MSN 82084 (Gipsy Major #81005): Taken on charge as N6835 at 6 MU RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire 23.5.39. To 20 E&RFTS Gravesend, Kent 11.7.39; coded ‘U’. To 14 EFTS Elmdon 15.10.39. Crashed 26.9.40; to DeHavilland for repairs 5.10.40; to 24 MU RAF Ternhill, Shropshire 22.12.40 after repairs. To Station Flight RAF Coltishall/257 Squadron 11.6.41.

Written off when dived into the North Sea between Southwold and Lowestoft, 1/4 mile North of Southwold, Suffolk, 19.6.1941.

Crew:
Sgt (787506) Václav BREJCHA (Cs.pilot) of 257 Sqdn RAF - killed in service 19.6.41.Body washed up at Southwold Eastern beach; buried at Scottow, Norfolk

Vaclav Brejcha was born in Zivotice, Czechoslovakia on 13th April 1915. He was in the Czech Air Force before the war and escaped to Poland after the Germans took over the country in March 1939. After Poland fell, he escaped to France, joining the Armee de l’Air and flying MB152 aircraft with GC III/10 and Curtiss Hawk 75’s with GC I/4.

After the fall of France in mid-June 1940 he made his way to England, arriving at 6 OTU Sutton Bridge from RAF Cosford on 1st September to convert to Hurricanes. On 2nd October he made a forced-landing in Hurricane L1581 following engine failure. On 5th October Brejcha joined 43 Squadron at Usworth. He went to 257 Squadron at Coltishall on 27th November 1940.

On 4th February 1941, in Hurricane P3705, he shot down Do17 U5+LM (Werk Nr.1132) of 4/KG2. It had been damaged by anti-aircraft fire and also by P/O Barnes of 257 Sqn. It crashed offshore near Corton, Lowestoft. Fw H Ablonski and Gefr. F Muller both baled too low and were killed. Fw. W Blaschyk was captured along with Lt. F Heilman but the latter died of wounds the same day.

Remains of Tiger Moth N6835 Struck Off Charge 30.6.41 as FACE (Flying Accident Cat.E)

1. Aggressive in Defence - The Aircraft of RAF Coltishall 1940 - 2006 by R.H.Vernon 2005
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) AIR81/7032: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16756329
3. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2764369/VACLAV%20BREJCHA/
4. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p820.html
6. http://flymag.cz/article.php?id=6171
7. https://www.bcsa.co.uk/never-forgotten/
8. http://aces.safarikovi.org/biography/cz/cz/brejcha.html
9. Pilot Grave marker: https://www.flickr.com/photos/96555212@N08/46328395481/
10. http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Brejcha.htm
11. http://aircrewremembered.com/brejcha-vaclav.html
12. https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/air-force-operations/airplanes-allies-and-axis-lost/dh-60/108672-4154380.html
13. http://www.obec-zivotice.cz/pages/akce/2007/polozeni_vence.php
14. https://www-vets-cz.translate.goog/vpm/23260-pomnik-obetem-2-svetove-valky/?_x_tr_sl=cs&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc
15. https://aces-safarikovi-org.translate.goog/biography/cz/cz/brejcha.html?_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_sl=cs&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc
16. https://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=81259&start=25
17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwold

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
24-Feb-2012 13:38	Dr. John Smith	Added
05-Apr-2013 02:21	n	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport]
05-Apr-2013 08:13	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport]
08-Sep-2013 03:58	JINX	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport]
03-Dec-2018 16:24	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
31-May-2019 19:36	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
03-Nov-2019 09:13	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
05-Aug-2021 09:50	MamaMia	Updated [Narrative, Operator]
07-Aug-2021 20:09	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Source, Narrative, Category]
07-Aug-2021 20:11	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
07-Aug-2021 21:06	BlBE	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative, Operator]
06-Mar-2022 21:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Source, Narrative]
08-Mar-2022 18:12	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]