Date:	Thursday 16 May 1940
Time:	20:15 LT
Type:	Westland Lysander Mk II
Owner/operator:	4 Sqn RAF
Registration:	P9064?
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Louviers, Eure department, Normandy -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Lille/Ronchin Airbase, France
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Westland Lysander Mk.II P9064?, 4 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (failed to return) from a Observation and Tactical Recce sortie, over the Belgian/French border on 16 May 1940. According to the official Air Ministry file on the incident (File AIR 81/417): "Lysander shot down over France, 17 May 1940. Corporal J Bower: missing, later reported to be safe. Flying Officer E E A Wood: report of death from injuries".

Lysander P9064? took off from Lille/Ronchin Airbase in France, on a Observation and Tactical Recce sortie, over the Belgian/French border. Unofficial published sources state that the Lysander was shot down by a Bf 110 of 1./ZG.1 near Louviers, a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in north-western France. (At approximate Coordinates: 49°13′N 1°10′E).

Crew of Lysander P9064:
Flying Officer [Pilot] Edward Ellis Alexander Wood, RAF 39771, age 26, 16/05/1940, posted as missing in action, later death from injuries sustained.
Corporal [Air Gunner] J. Bower - believed to be unhurt.

Lysander P9064 failed to return 20.15 hrs. As no trace of Flying Officer E E Wood was ever found, he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, with date of death 17/05/1940.

NOTE: Some published unofficial sources state the Lysander P9064 was not involved in the incident, but was shot down on 21 May 1940 killing P/O Terence John Frederick DAVEY (pilot) and LAC James Henry GILLHAM (air gunner). They took off from Clairmarais aboard a Westland Lysander Mk II P9064 at the same time than F/L GRAHAM from No 13 Sqn for a reconnaissance mission. They too observed German bombers (3 Dornier Do-215s) which were bombing St Omer and attacked them. They were hit by return fire and their Lysander crashed near Zudausques. The funeral took place in the afternoon in the cemetery of that village.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 50)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/417: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502088
3. Cynrick De Decker and Jean Louis Roba, Mei 1940 boven België. de luchtstrijd tijdens de Achttiendaagse Veldtocht, De Krijger, 1993;
4. Peter D. Cornwell, The Battle of France, Then and Now, 2008
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1531968/wood,-edward-ellis-alexander/
6. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=7309
7. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/4_squadron.html#1605
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louviers
9. https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/this-day-in-the-war-in-europe-the-beginning.41546/page-41#post-1204455
10. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/04533.php

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-Jul-2019 23:53	Dr. John Smith	Added
20-Jul-2019 23:54	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
22-Jul-2019 09:15	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]