ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 227230
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| Date: | Wednesday 15 May 1940 |
| Time: | 12:40 LT |
| Type: |  Hawker Hurricane Mk 1 |
| Owner/operator: | 3 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | L1645 |
| MSN: | QO-D |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Huldenburg, Leuven, Flemish Brabant -
 Belgium
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Mervile, France |
Hawker Hurricane Mk.I L1645 (QO-D) 3 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when failed to return from a combat air patrol on 14 May 1940. Pilot killed. According to the official Air Ministry file on the incident (File AIR 81/399): "Sergeant J L C Williams: missing presumed dead; Hurricane L1645 crashed, 15 May 1940".
According to published unofficial sources, Hurricane L1645 was shot down by a Messerschmidt Bf 109 of III/JG 26 piloted by Oberleutnant Joachim Müncheberg at Huldenburg, Leuven, Flemish Brabant at 12.40 hrs on 15 May 1940. It was claimed as Joachim Müncheberg's fourth victory in air to air combat, and took place "Near Overijse"
Crew of Hurricane L1645:
Sergeant James Leslie Clutton Williams, RAFVR, 741421, age 21, posted 15/05/1940, as missing presumed dead, and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. There is a post script: in 1982 the wreckage of a Hurricane was excavated, and it is believed to to be that of L1645:
"The Huldenberg Hurricane was excavated 25 years ago in the presence of a man of the Belgium Aviation Museum Brussels, on Saturday September 11th 1982 . According to local witnesses it had crashed somewhere around May 15th 1940. The engine and parts of the cockpit were found at a depth of about 5 metres, together with a few human remains of the pilot and a piece of parachute cloth, suggesting that the pilot had died still holding the control stick and had crashed to his death."
The above report implies that the pilot was still in the cockpit of Hurricane L1645 when it crashed, but that not enough of his remains survived to make a definite identification.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 11)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/399: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502070
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1531666/williams,-james-leslie-clutton/
4. http://www.luftwaffe39-45.historia.nom.br/ases/vitorias_muncheberg.htm
5. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=14935
6. http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/unknown-hurricane-pilot-mid-may-1940-belgium.32176/
7. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/3_squadron.html#1505
8. http://www.luftwaffe.cz/muncheberg.html
9. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/14039.php
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 16-Jul-2019 23:52 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 17-Jul-2019 13:38 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator] |
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