Date:	Tuesday 14 November 1939
Time:	afternoon
Type:	Hawker Hurricane Mk 1
Owner/operator:	87 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L1813
MSN:	LK-O
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Minor
Location:	De Panne, West Flanders -   Belgium
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Mervile, France
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Hawker Hurricane L1813, ("LK-O") 87 Squadron, RAF took off at 13:30 on a Dunkirk patrol: Flying Officer Richard Lindsay Glyde interned after his Hurricane (L1813) landed at DePanne, near Coxyde (Koksijde), Belgium, 14 November 1939; he escaped on the 24th November and, with the help of the British Consulate, made their way back to France in civilian clothes and rejoined 87 on the 27th. According to his biography:

"Richard Glyde applied to join the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) but was discharged as medically unfit due to a curved spine. Determined as he was he took therapy, sailed to England where he was granted a short service commission in to RAF.

He was posted to No. 87 Squadron which was send out to France as a part of the Advanced Air Striking Force early September 1939.

During a flight in October 1939 the Squadron Leader Coope, Glyde and Pilot Officer Dunn lost direction and had to land in Belgium. They were both interned first at the Headquarters of the Gendarmerie in Brussels, and then transferred to a mediaeval fortress outside Antwerp, where about 40 RAF personnel, namely bomber crew, were interned.

He managed to escape though, taking along his CO and another 87 Sqn pilot and returned to their squadron in France, in disguise after being hidden in various parts of Brussels.

On 13 August 1940 over the English Channel off Portland Bill he was hit by return fire from German Heinkel 111. Shortly after his squadron members noticed white vapour pouring from his Hurricane’s engine he vanished. It was presumed that he had crashed into the sea. No trace was ever found of him."

According to some sources, Hurricane L1813 was impressed into the Belgian Air Force with the serial "H-37" (although other sources dispute this)

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 13)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/48: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14142131
3. https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/belgian-hurricane.24836/
4. https://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/85852-history-of-hurricane-mk-i-mk-ii/
5. https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/49067/Glyde-Richard-Lindsay.htm
6. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10032127
7. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/11697.php
8. National Archives Kew, 87 Sqdn Record of Events Doc AIR27/712/5 page 6

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
04-Jun-2019 00:14	Dr. John Smith	Added
04-Jun-2019 04:15	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
26-Jun-2022 09:26	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]