ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 22364
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| Date: | Friday 14 June 1940 |
| Time: | 12:23 |
| Type: |  Fairey Battle Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 226 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | P2335 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Breux-sur-Avre, 10 km W of Dreux, Eure-et-Loir 28 -
 France
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Artins, France |
Fairey Battle Mk.I P2335 (WT-N) 226 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from combat operations over Northern France. All three crew killed. According to the official Air Ministry File into the incident (File AIR 81/933): "Battle P2335 crashed at Breux-sur-Avre, France, 14 June 1940. Sergeant F Nixon, Sergeant H P L White and Flying Officer K N Rea: report of deaths"
Airborne from Artis, France to attack enemy armoured columns in the lower Seine Valley area. Shot down in air to air combat by Hptmn Ebbighausen of 4./JG 26 and crashed at Breux-sur-Avre, 10 km West of Dreux, and 15 km South East of Breteuil, in the Eure department in Normandy in northern France. No survivors among the crew of three, and the body of one of them was never found.
Crew of Battle P2335:
Flying Officer (Pilot) Kenneth Noel Rea, RAF 40260 (New Zealander), age 27, killed in action 14/06/1940
Sergeant (Observer) Frank Nixon, RAF 580437, age 21, posted 14/06/1940, as missing, believed killed in action
Sergeant Howard Pervical White (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) RAF 528627, age 22, killed in action (died of wounds) 02/08/1940 (see below)
Of the three crew, the bodies of two were recovered, but were interred in different cemeteries: Flying Officer Kenneth Rea was buried at Breux-sur-Avre Communal Cemetery Eure, France. Sgt Frank Nixon's body was never found, and he is therefore Commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
Sgt Howard White was buried Doullens Communal Cemetery, Somme, France. The different location of his burial is probably down to the fact that he originally survived the crash, but was seriously wounded, and died in Hospital in Doullens of his wounds on 2 August 1940, some six weeks after the crash
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/933: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502565
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2320669/rea,-kenneth-noel/
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1077740/nixon,-frank/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2952875/white,-howard-percival/
6. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=1155
7. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/226_squadron.html#1406
8. http://39-45.auzeau.fr/france/27-eure/27-breux-sur-avre/
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breux-sur-Avre
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Aug-2008 10:17 | Anon. | Added |
| 27-Jan-2012 13:09 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport] |
| 25-Aug-2013 06:02 | JINX | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
| 14-Sep-2014 09:10 | Jixon | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source] |
| 29-Sep-2019 18:22 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Time, Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 02-Oct-2019 09:19 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator] |
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