Date:	Wednesday 22 May 1940
Time:	day
Type:	Lockheed Hudson Mk I
Owner/operator:	206 Sqn RAF
Registration:	N7402
MSN:	VX-K
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North Sea off German coast -   Germany
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Bircham Newton, Kings Lynn, Norfolk
Destination airport:	RAF Bircham Newton, Kings Lynn, Norfolk

Narrative:
Lockheed Hudson Mk.I L7402 (VX-K) 206 Squadron, RAF: Written off (presumed destroyed) when lost (failed to return) from an operational sortie over the North Sea on 22 May 1940. According to the official Air Ministry file on the incident (File AIR 81/479): "Hudson N7402 failed to return from an operational flight over the North Sea, 22 May 1940. Aircraftman 1st Class J F Peel, Leading Aircraftman L J Britton, Pilot Officer M J Giles and Pilot Officer J A Clark missing presumed dead"

Hudson N7402 took off at 11.30 hrs from RAF Bircham Newton, Kings Lynn, Norfolk. Failed to return from Reconnaissance and anti-shipping patrol sortie off the German coast.

Crew of Hudson N7402:
Pilot Officer [Pilot] Malcolm J. Giles, RAF 41996, posted 22/05/1940, as missing presumed dead
Pilot Officer John A. Clark, RAF 41986, age 22, posted 22/05/1940, as missing presumed dead
Leading Aircraftman Leonard J. Britton, RAF 519168, DFM, age 27, posted 22/05/1940, as missing presumed dead
Aircraftman 1st Class James F. Peel, RAF 623315, age 23, posted 22/05/1940, as missing presumed dead

As no trace of Hudson N7402 or its crew of four was ever found, they are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Brtiain, 1977 p 47)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/479: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502181
3. Ross McNeill, 'Royal Air Force Coastal Command Losses: Aircraft and Crew Losses 1939-1941 v. 1', Midland Publishing, 2003
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1270815/giles,-malcolm-john/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1084467/clark,-john-allen/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1530456/britton,-leonard-james/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1804136/peel,-james-francis/
8. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/206_squadron.html#2205

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
30-Jul-2019 23:29	Dr. John Smith	Added
31-Jul-2019 08:14	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]