Date:	Tuesday 6 February 1940
Time:	11:20
Type:	Avro Anson Mk I
Owner/operator:	217 Sqn RAF
Registration:	K8746
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Celtic Sea off Bishop’s Rock, Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF St. Eval, Cornwall
Destination airport:

Narrative:
The Avro Anson I K8746 MW-O of 217 Squadron RAF took off from St Eval at 07:40 hrs on 6 February 1940 to escort the convoy OBM85G. During this patrol control was lost in a turn at 11:20 hrs and it dived into the sea off Bishop’s Rock. (At approximate co ordiantes 49.873333 N, 6.444722 W). There was only one survivor from the crew of four, who was rescued by the destroyer HMS Vimy.

Crew:
Flying Officer John Arthur Charles White (Service Number 39406, aged 24, from Ontario, Canada) - killed
Pilot Officer Arthur Hugh Moncrieff Wright (Service Number 41643, aged 23, from Wellington, New Zealand) - killed
LAC 528828 Herbert James Noel Marsden RAF - killed
LAC 550920 Edward Wilson (Wireless Op/Air Gunner) - sole survivor

It is worth noting that the official RAF accident report file and board of inquiry notes into the crash (File AIR 81/1817) are closed at the National Archives (PRO Kew) until 1 January 2054, almost 114 years after the date of the accident. (They were originally scheduled to be opened on 1 January 1971, which was 31 years later).

1. "Royal Air Force Coastal Command Losses of the Second World War, vol 1: Aircraft and Crew Losses 1939-1941", by Ross McNeill. ISBN 1-85780-128-8
2. http://web.archive.org/web/20130117050441/http://www.rafdavidstowmoor.org:80/pages/crash_log/crashlog40.html
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop_Rock,_Isles_of_Scilly
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1531406/white,-john-arthur-charles/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1532131/wright,-arthur-hugh-moncrieff/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1079961/marsden,-herbert-james-noel/
7. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/1817
8. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-avro-652-anson-isles-scilly-3-killed
9. http://aircrewremembered.com/white-john-arthur-charles.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Feb-2017 16:38	Laurent Rizzotti	Added
10-May-2019 21:04	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Other fatalities, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]