Date:	Tuesday 14 May 1940
Time:	afternoon
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk I
Owner/operator:	142 Sqn RAF
Registration:	P2246?
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Artaize-le-Viver, Sedan, Ardennes -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Berry-au-Bac, France
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Fairey Battle Mk.1 P2246? (WT-P) 142 Sqaudron, RAF: Lost on combat operations - Battle P2246 "shot down over Artaise-le-Vivier, France, 14 May 1940. Squadron Leader J F Hobler injured"

Airborne Berry-au-Bac to attack bridges and roads in the area around Sedan. Shot down by intense small-arms ground fire and crash landed just behind enemy lines, but all three crew evaded capture. According to some published sources "142 Squadron lost four Fairey Battles this day to "friendly fire" - all attacked by Moranes of GC III/7. Battles lost were P2246, P2333, K9333 and L5517".

All three crew seriously injured (Squadron Leader Hobler was quite seriously burnt) and were later evacuated to England for treatment and recovery.

Crew of Battle P2246:
Squadron Leader J.F. Hobler (pilot) - injured, multiple burns, evacuated to England
Sgt Richard V.T. Kitto (Wireless Op) - injured, evacuated to England
Corporal D.J. Barbrooke (Air Gunner) - injured, evacuated to England

Note: Some published sources list the aircraft involved as Fairey Battle Mk.I P2195/WT-L. According to the official Air Ministry file (File AIR 81/415) the battle involved was P2195. However, other unofficial published sources (most notably, "The Battle File" by Sidney Shail - see link #2 - list the aircraft involved as P2246/WT-P. "The Battle File" lists P2195 as "Missing 14.5.40", and P2246 as "damaged by Bf 109s and crash landed at Sedan 14.5.40. To No.6 RSU (Repair & Salvage Unit) 17.5.40. Presumed abandoned in France 6.40").

Hobler's plane is now almost certainly (from French records and various photos) P2195 and not P2246 as stated in the Squadron's ORB. P2195 is definitely the much photographed wreck at Artaise which finished up at the edge of the road

However, the 142 Squadron ORB document (Air Ministry form 540) at the National Archives (PRO Kew) needs to be treated with great care. It was written after the return to England by Sgt Rudd in early October 1940, (between 1st and 11th October) almost four months after the return from France. It was thus done "from memory" without reference to the original documents, which had been destroyed to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. The only surviving documents for 142 Squadron for May and June 1940 were a few pilots logbooks.

As Sgt Rudd himself said in a letter dated 11 October 1940: "It has been compiled to a small extent from matters available in the Operational Files, partly from private sources, but largely from memory. Owing to the discrepancies of dates and times, frequent time lapses and oft-times hazy or only partial recollection induced by the rapid sequence of events, and in spite of the check and cross-check of information thus gleaned, errors no doubt exist."

As both 142 Squadron Fairey Battles were lost on the same day (14 May 1940) and in the same area (at or near Sedan, Ardennes, France) the confusion over the fates of these two aircraft is understandable!

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 36)
2. The Battle File (Sidney Shail, Air Britain, 1997 p 165 & p 166)
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/415: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502086
4. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/142_squadron.html
5. http://www.binbrook.demon.co.uk/html/Fairey_Battle.html
6. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=1924
7. http://www.anciens-aerodromes.com/?p=33864
8. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showpost.php?p=91211&postcount=12
9. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showpost.php?p=106871&postcount=10
10. No.142 Squadron ORB from September 1939, National Archives (PRO Kew) file AIR 27/972.
11. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showpost.php?p=107037&postcount=16

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Jun-2019 17:23	Dr. John Smith	Added
18-Jun-2019 02:44	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
19-Jul-2019 22:23	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
19-Jul-2019 22:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Date, Narrative]
20-Jul-2019 22:22	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Registration, Source, Narrative]
30-Jun-2022 04:56	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]