Date:	Tuesday 14 May 1940
Time:	16:15
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk I
Owner/operator:	105 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L5523
MSN:	GB-U
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Bulson, near River Muese, Le Petit Pont, Midrevaux, Ardennes. -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Villeneuve-les-Vertus Aerodrome, Marne
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Fairey Battle L5523/U: written off when lost (failed to return) from combat operations on 14/05/1940.
All three crew killed - L5523 being one of seven 105 Squadron Fairey Battles lost on combat on this day in just one hour.

According to the official Air Ministry file on the incident (File AIR 81/342): "Battle L5523 crashed at Bulson, France, 14 May 1940. Aircraftman 1st Class J Potter, Sergeant G A Cartwright and Pilot Officer H E White: report of deaths".

The events of 14th May 1940 determined both of the A.A.S.F. and of the campaign. The French High Command called for a supreme effort at Sedan, where the ground forces massing for counter-attack had been rudely scattered. Arrangements were accordingly made for the whole strength of the Allied bombers in France to be hurled against the Sedan bridgehead in a series of waves, and soon after noon the few French aircraft available went into action. Attacking bridges and columns of troops, they suffered losses so severe that their remaining operations for the day were cancelled.

Then came the turn of the A.A.S.F. Between 15:00 and 16:00 hrs the entire force of available Battles and Blenheims was flung against the same objectives. But the Bf 109's absent in the morning, were now on guard. No. 12 Squadron lost four aircraft out of five; No. 105 Squadron, seven out of eleven; No. 150 Squadron, four out of four; No. 139 Squadron, four out of six; No. 218 Squadron, ten out of eleven. In all, from the seventy-one bombers which took off, forty did not return. No higher rate of loss in an operation of comparable size has even been experienced by the Royal Air Force.

L5523 was airborne at 15:40 hrs from Villeneuve-les-Vertus Aerodrome, 3.4 miles NE of Vertus, Marne, to attack bridges and roads in the area around Sedan. Crashed at Bulson, near River Muese, Le Petit Pont, Midrevaux, Ardennes, France. Cause not established, but probably shot down enemy fighters. A Fairey Battle was claimed as shot down at 16:15 hrs by Oberlt. Greisert of 2/JG2. All three crew killed.

Crew of Battle L5523:
P/O (40787) Hugh Edgar WHITE (pilot) RAF: killed
Sgt (580604) Geoffrey Andrew CARTWRIGHT (Obs.) RAF: killed
AC.1 (610963) James POTTER (WOp/AG) RAF: killed

All three crew fatalities were buried at Choloy War Cemetery, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France. Note that the official report states the crash location as "Bulson, France"; other unofficial published sources give the crash location as "La Neuville-à-Maire, 14 km South west of Sedan" which is also in the Ardennes at approximate Coordinates: 49°34′57″N 4°51′22″E. The two locations are about 11 km apart.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain. 1978 p 34)
2. The Battle File (Sidney Shail, Air Britain, 1997 p 153)
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/342: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502336
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2320016/white,-hugh-edgar/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2319660/cartwright,-geoffrey-andrew/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2319899/potter,-james/
7. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/105_squadron.html#1405
8. http://www.oldhaltonians.co.uk/pages/rememb/ROH/19.htm
9. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=214
10. http://39-45.auzeau.fr/france/54-meurthe-et-moselle/54-choloy-war-cemetery-11/
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Neuville-%C3%A0-Maire
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulson

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Jul-2019 21:50	Dr. John Smith	Added
07-Jul-2019 22:04	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
07-Jul-2019 22:08	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
08-Jul-2019 05:50	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]