Date:	Sunday 12 May 1940
Time:	day
Type:	Hawker Hurricane Mk 1
Owner/operator:	607 (County of Durham) Sqn RAF
Registration:	P2616
MSN:	AF-R
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Lens-Saint-Servais, Geer, Liège -   Belgium
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Vitry, France
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Hawker Hurricane Mk.1 P2616 (AF-R), 607 (County of Durham) Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) in combat operations. According to the official Air Ministry file on the incident (File AIR 81/300): "Hurricane P2616 failed to return from an operational flight, 12 May 1940. Temporary Warrant Officer K N V Townsend prisoner of war".

Hurricane P2616 from 607 Squadron encountered Bf 109s from I./JG 1 over Lens-Saint-Servais, Belgium. Hurricane P2616 was shot down, the pilot Sgt Ken Townsend DFM luckily got out on time and was captured.

Lens-Saint-Servais (in Walloon Sint-Servå-Lin ) is a section of the Belgian municipality of Geer located in the Walloon Region in the province of Liège at approximate coordinates 50°39'49"N, 5°09'21" E.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/300: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14142149
3. Norman LR Franks: RAF Fighter Command losses of the second world war, 1939-1941. Midland Publishing
4. https://www.luchtvaartgeschiedenis.be/content/hurricane-p2616-bij-lens-st-servais
5. https://halifaxjd371kno.com/index.php/lens-saint-servais-hurricane-p2616-607-squadron/
6. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens-Saint-Servais

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

18 May 1940

P2536

607 (County of Durham) Sqn RAF

1

near Séranvillers-Forenville, 7 km SE of Cambrai, Nord Department

w/o

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Jun-2019 02:00	Dr. John Smith	Added
29-Jun-2019 02:01	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location]
30-Jun-2019 10:26	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
26-Jun-2022 02:17	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]