Date:	Saturday 15 June 1940
Time:	morning
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk I
Owner/operator:	150 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L5541
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	La Ferte-Vidame, 40 km SE of Dreux, Eure-et-Loir 28 -   France
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Houssay, Loire-et-Cher, France
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Fairey Battle Mk.I L5541 (JN-A) 150 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from combat operations over Northern France. All three crew survived. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/946): "Battle L5541 lost in air operations, 15 June 1940. Leading Aircraftman E G Hillyard: injured. Sergeant F A Armstrong and Pilot Officer E A Benjamin: missing, later reported safe"

Airborne at 04:30 hours from Houssay, Loires-et-Cher, France. Tasked with attacking enemy armoured columns in the Lower Seine valley. Badly shot about by Bf 109s in the battle area, and crash-landed at la Ferté-Vidame (Eure-et-Loir), 40 km SW of Dreux, France. Aircraft abandoned at the crash site, as the squadron evacuated from France to RAF Abingdon later the same day.

Crew of Battle L5541:
Leading Aircraftman E G Hillyard (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) RAF 747947, injured (lost right arm)
Sergeant F A Armstrong (Observer)
Pilot Officer E A Benjamin (pilot)

There is a report (in the book 'Footsteps on the Sands of Time' p.318) that LAC Hillyard, with his right arm amputated, escaped via Spain. He was Awarded MiD (Mentioned In Dispatches) 13 March 1942 for his successful escape from captivity (awarded as per London Gazette dated 11 June 1942)

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/946: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502578
3. The Battle File, (Sidney Shail, Air Britain, 1997)
4. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=4372
5. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/150_squadron.html#1506
6. https://www.anciens-aerodromes.com/?p=33864
7. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/16321.php
8. National Archives (PRO Kew) File WO 373/61/630: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7376529

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Aug-2008 10:17	Anon.	Added
25-Jun-2012 08:21	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Source]
07-Feb-2018 09:55	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Aircraft type]
29-Sep-2019 22:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
29-Sep-2019 22:36	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Date]
02-Oct-2019 09:20	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
20-Feb-2022 10:34	Anon.	Updated [Narrative]