Date:	Thursday 26 February 1942
Time:	20:05
Type:	Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I
Owner/operator:	256 Sqn RAF
Registration:	T3995
MSN:	516
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Squires Gate, Blackpool, Lancashire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Squires Gate, Blackpool, Lancashire
Destination airport:	RAF Squires Gate, Blackpool, Lancashire

Narrative:
Two RNZAF crew of 256 Sqn RAF, Sgt Francis William Joyce (pilot) and Flt Sgt Gordon Fitzgerald Walden (air gunner), were killed when their Defiant I T3995/'JT-U' stalled on approach to RAF Squires Gate, Blackpool, Lancashire and crashed at 20:05 hrs.

Crew of Defiant T3995:
Sergeant Francis William JOYCE (404376) Pilot RNZAF, aged 22 - killed on active service 26 February 1942
Flight Sergeant Gordon Fitzgerald WALDEN (402117) W/Op & Air Gunner RNZAF, aged 26 - killed on active service 26 February 1942

Both crew were buried at Park Cemetery, Lytham St. Anne's, Blakcpool, Lancashire

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft T1000-V9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1997)
2. "The Boulton Paul Defiant: Day and Night Fighter", by Phil H. Listemann, ISBN 979-&0-96490-07-3, page 56
3. ORB of 256 Squadron for February 1942: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/1523/22: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8397499
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/12404: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C17083154
5. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=T3995
6. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2412643/francis-william-joyce/
7. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2412653/gordon-fitzgerald-walden/
8. https://aircrewremembered.com/joyce-francis-william.html
9. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/military/Crashes_in_Northern_England.pdf
10. https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C27696
11. https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C23927
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._256_Squadron_RAF#Second_World_War
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackpool_Airport

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
06-Feb-2008 11:42	JINX	Added
24-Jan-2012 13:19	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Location, Destination airport, Narrative]
26-Feb-2020 11:54	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative]