ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 228248
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| Date: | Tuesday 14 May 1940 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Hawker Hurricane Mk 1 |
| Owner/operator: | 607 (County of Durham) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | P2618 |
| MSN: | AF-J |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Aische-en-Refail, Eghezée, Namur -
 Belgium
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Vitry-en-Artois, Pas-de-Calais department, Hauts-de-France |
Hawker Hurricane Mk.I P2618 (AF-J) 607 (County of Durham) Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (failed to return) from a combat air patrol over the Gembloux area on 14 May 1940. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/573): "Hurricane crashed at Aische-en-Refail, Belgium, 14 May 1940. Flying Officer G I Cuthbert: report of death"
According to unofficial published sources: "Flying Officer Monty Thompson was shot down May 14, 1940, in Hurricane P2620. He was on a patrol in the area of Gembloux when his section were bounced by Bf-109s. Also killed were Arthur E. LeBreuilly, in Hurricane P2713: and Pilot Officer G.I. Cuthbert, in Hurricane P2618. It was believed that they were bounced by Bf-109s of 4/JG2. To add any more than that is conjecture as 607 Squadrons records were destroyed in France when they were evacuated from Vitry-en-Artois on May 21 1940. The only records that remain are some pilots logbooks. For anyone about to look in the squadron ORB they will be met with a blank space covering the last ten days in France". What details of 607 Squadron's activities for the period 11-21 May 1940 were reconstructed largely "from memory" and the few available surviving pilots logbooks, several months later (October 1940). In the intervening five month period, several personnel were either killed in action or posted away, leaving very few available to give eyewitness recalls of actions for the period.
Crew of Hurricane P2618:
Flying Officer (Pilot) Gerald Ivo Cuthbert, RAF 90133, age 28, killed in action 14/05/1940, buried at Hotton War Cemetery, Hotton, Arrondissement de Marche-en-Famenne, Luxembourg, Belgium
The reported crash location of Aische-en-Refail is a section of the Belgian municipality of Eghezée located in the Walloon Region in the province of Namur at approximate co ordinates 50°36' North, 4°50' East.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 15)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/573: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502211
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2726380/cuthbert,-gerald-ivo/
4. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/14039.php
5. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/607_squadron.html#1405
6. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14041944/gerald-ivo-cuthbert
7. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aische-en-Refail
8. https://www.twgpp.org/photograph/view/2983839
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Aug-2019 23:19 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 19-Aug-2019 17:54 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator] |
| 26-Jun-2022 02:13 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
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