Date:	Tuesday 4 March 1941
Time:	13:10
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk I
Owner/operator:	7 B&GS RAF
Registration:	L5019
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Sea, 4 miles off Hutchins Point, Rest Bay, Porthcawl, Glamorgan -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Stormy Down, Port Talbot, South Wales
Destination airport:	RAF Stormy Down, Port Talbot, South Wales

Narrative:
This Fairey Battle was delivered to the RAF at 19 MU St.Athan on 6th March 1939. Assigned to 7 B&GS (7 Bombing & Gunnery School, RAF Stormy Down, Port Talbot) on 19th December 1939. On 4th March 1941, the aircraft dived into the sea 4 miles off Hutchins Point, Rest Bay, Porthcawl. All three crew on board were killed. According to the ORB for RAF Stormy Down:

"On March 4" [1940] "flying was stopped when it became cloudy. Later it restarted. Sgt Tock took off in Battle L5019 with LACs Staunch and Shepherd, No 30 Air Gunnery Course pupils, on Quarter Cross Over exercises. A second Battle flown by Sgt Noble was towing the target drogue. The two machines passed each other at 2,000 feet and Sgt Noble saw Sgt Tock's machine turn steeply and head for Porthcawl with white smoke pouring from it. Sgt Noble turned and caught sight of Sgt Tock 500 yards away then lost sight of him again. He did not reappear.

At 13.10 hours the police telephoned to say a civilian had seen an aircraft crash into the sea off Porthcawl. An air and sea search immediately took place but no traces were found."

Crew of Battle L5019:
Sgt Geoffrey Tock (pilot) (Service Number 741785, aged 20) - killed on ative service 4/3/4940
AC.2 John Staunch (Air Gunner under training, Service Number 1055973, aged 21) - killed on active service 4/3/1940
AC.2 Raymond Shepherd (Air gunner under training, Service Number 1050924, aged 19) - killed on active service 4/3/1940.

No trace of the Fairey Battle, or any of its three crew was ever found. Hence the three crew are commemorated, and have no known graves (other than the crash site). Battle L5019 was formally Struck Off Charge on 1st April 1941. Total flying time on airframe 365.40 hours

1. Glamorganshire Police reports for 1939-41. (Glamorgan PRO; File DCON/279/7)
2. Halley, J J, 1993, Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000 to N9999, p.53.
3. The Battle File (Sidney Shail, Air Britain, 1997 p.140)
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/5439: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16689447
5. https://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/515455/details/fairey-battle-i-l5019
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2358916/tock,-geoffrey/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1807871/staunch,-john/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1807031/shepherd,-raymond/
9. http://www.ggat.org.uk/timeline/pdf/Military%20Aircraft%20Crash%20Sites%20in%20Southeast%20Wales.pdf
10. http://www.ceninrenewables.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Cottrell-1993-Stormy-AirBase.pdf
11. https://ciapoldiescorner.blogspot.com/2009/03/events-for-4th-march.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Mar-2008 03:28	JINX	Added
19-May-2019 18:05	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Date, Time, Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
19-May-2019 18:05	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
19-May-2019 18:07	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Destination airport, Source]
19-May-2019 18:08	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
26-May-2019 07:16	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
24-Oct-2020 18:43	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]