Date:	Friday 3 November 1939
Time:	day
Type:	Saunders Roe A.27 London Mk II
Owner/operator:	240 Sqn RAF
Registration:	K9686
MSN:	BN-K
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North Sea, between Grip and Brattvær on Smøla -   Norway
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Sullom Voe, Shetland Isles
Destination airport:	RAF Sullom Voe, Shetland Isles
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Saunders Roe A.27 London Mk.II, K9686 ("BN-K") of 240 Squadron, RAF: Missing (failed to return) on recon mission to Norwegian coast 3 November 1939. All six crew were killed (officially "missing, presumed dead"). A Norwegian source (see link #5) gives the crash location as "between Grip and Brattvær on Smøla" off the Norwegian coast at approximate coordinates: 63°24′N, 07°48′E. (Norway was still a neutral country at the time).

Only one body recovered - that of AC.1 C Wilson, who was landed on Sauøy north of Frøya. He was first buried in Kristiansund on December 24, 1939. He was moved to Stavne War Cemetery at Trondheim on 9 May 1946, row C grave no. 3.

Crew:
Pilot: 37428 Flt.Lt. John MacLachlan Harvey Sinclair RAF killed.
565335 Sgt. Thomas Edward Page RAF killed.
519767 AC.1 John Canning Lewis RAF killed.
534026 LAC Arthur James Saffin RAF killed.
538736 AC.1 Cornelius Wilson RAF killed.
543862 Corporal. Denis Dermot Kane RAF killed.

AC.1 Wilson rests in Stavne Cemetery, Trondheim, Norway while the rest of the crew are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial to the Missing. HMS Newcastle and escorts set sail from Sullom Voe and searched for this aircraft, to largely no avail.

The Norwegian source (see link #5) states that K9686 had been stripped of its markings and RAF roundels, and may have been involved in a clandestine operation. It is known that the aircraft was "shadowing" a ship, the US-flagged "City of Flint" in Norwegian waters.

1. Coastal Command Losses of the Second World War Vol 1.
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976 p 78)
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/39: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14142122
4. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/03337.php
5. http://www.nordmore.museum.no/bes%C3%B8k-oss/kristiansund/nedskytingen-av-flyb%C3%A5ten-london-ii-utenfor-grip (Norwegian text)
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1807217/sinclair,-john-maclachlan-harvey/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1803746/page,-thomas-edward/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1803387/lewis,-john-canning/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2940811/saffin,-arthur-james/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2186347/wilson,-cornelius/
11. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1802455/kane,-denis-dermot/
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brattv%C3%A6r

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
16-Nov-2015 05:02	JINX	Added
16-Nov-2015 07:36	JINX	Updated [Narrative]
07-Jan-2016 20:37	Shout	Updated [Operator, Narrative]
03-Jun-2019 21:51	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative]
03-Jun-2019 21:52	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
04-Jun-2019 04:17	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]