Date:	Tuesday 14 May 1940
Time:	16:10 LT
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk I
Owner/operator:	218 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L5235
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Thelonne, 8 km S of Sedan, Ardennes -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Aubérive-sur-Suippes, France
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Fairey Battle Mk.I L5235 (HA-W), 218 Squadron, RAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) when lost (failed to return) from combat operations on 14 May 1940. One of the two crew was killed, the other captured and taken as PoW. According to the official Air Ministry file on the incident (File AIR 81/352): "Battle L5235 crashed at Thelonne, France, 14 May 1940. Leading Aircraftman A J Taylor, report of death. Pilot Officer A M Imrie, prisoner of war".

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 1500 and 1600 hours the entire force of available Battles and Blenheims was flung against the same objectives. But the Me.109's absent in the morning, were now on guard. No. 12 Squadron lost four aircraft out of five; No. 105 Squadron, six out of eleven; No. 142 Squadron lost four, 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.

Battle L5235 was airborne from Aubérive-sur-Suippes, France to attack bridges and roads in the area around Sedan. Shot down at Thelonne (Ardennes), 8 km South of Sedan, France (at approximate co ordinates 49°39'08"north, 4°56'40" east) - probably by Bf 109s of 1./JG 53. One of the two crew was killed, one survived to be captured and taken as a PoW.

Crew of Battle L5235:
Pilot Officer A.M. Imrie (Pilot); survived captured, taken as a PoW. Interned in PoW Camps 9A/L3, as PoW No.505
Leading Aircraftman (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) Arthur James Taylor, RAF 540413, age 21, killed in action 14/05/1940, buried at Thelonne Communal Cemetery, Ardennes, France

Combat losses by 218 Squadron were so severe, that, after losing ten aircraft by 14 May 1940, the squadron disbanded two days later (16 May). By that date, Nos. 105 and 218 Squadrons had only four aircraft left between them; these and the surviving crews were transferred to the other Battle squadrons.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 34)
2. The Battle File (Sidney Shail, Air Britain, 1977 p 146)
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File Air 81/351: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502156
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2689774/taylor,-alfred-james/
5. Photo of L5235 as HA-W after shot down: https://218squadron.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/new2.jpg
6. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/218_squadron.html#1405
7. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=940
8. https://erenow.net/ww/st-vith-victory-218-squadron-campaign-against-nazi-germany/12.php
9. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelonne .

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
08-Jul-2019 22:44	Dr. John Smith	Added
08-Jul-2019 22:46	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
09-Jul-2019 10:35	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
30-Jun-2022 04:57	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]