Date:	Wednesday 30 December 1942
Time:	day
Type:	Fairey Battle 1
Owner/operator:	2(AC) Sqn RAF
Registration:	K9277
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Taxi
Nature:	Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:	RAF Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire
Destination airport:	RAF Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire

Narrative:
Fairey Battle Mk.1 K9277, 2 (AC) Squadron, RAF Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire. Written off (damaged beyond repair) 30 December 1942. Whilst taxying over rough ground at RAF Sawbridgeworth, prior to take off, the entire tail unit detached from the fuselage, due to corrosion and fatigue in the riveted connections.

The pilot - Pilot Officer P Tonkin was considered not at fault as (quote) "the aircraft is over 4 years old and has seen service with three other units before coming to 2(AC) Sqn".

Aircraft withdrawn from service and delivered to 27 MU RAF Shawbury, Shropshire on 25 May 1943 for storage pending disposal. Finally Struck Off Charge 23 August 1944 (presumably at 27 MU RAF Shawbury) when the Fairey Battle was declared obsolete,

1. The Battle File (Sidney Shail, Air Britain, 1997 p.133)
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1976)
3. The K File - The RAF of the 1930s (James J. Halley, Air Britain 1995)
4. 2(AC) Sqn ORB (Operational Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1-31 December 1942: File AIR 27/19/24 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8406351
5. 'Where the Lysanders were...' (the story of Sawbridgeworth's airfields) by Paul Doyle, pub 1995 by Forward Airfield Research Publishing, ISBN 09525 624 05.
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Sawbridgeworth

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
19-Mar-2018 17:22	paddy	Added
14-Nov-2018 15:01	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Operator]
26-Oct-2020 21:09	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]