Date:	Sunday 26 May 1940
Time:	07:30
Type:	Westland Lysander Mk II
Owner/operator:	16 Sqn RAF
Registration:	P1720
MSN:	KJ-
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Minor
Location:	RAF Lympne, Ashford, Kent, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Lympne, Kent (LYM/EGMK)
Destination airport:	RAF Lympne

Narrative:
Westland Lysander P1720 (KJ- ) 16 Squadron, RAF.
In combat operations 26 May 1940. One of the crew of two was killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/574): "Lysander L48 [sic] shot down * on return from a reconnaissance flight, mistaken for the enemy by three Spitfires, 26 May 1940. Aircraftman 1st Class H G Littlewood - report of death. Pilot Officer J D Hall - uninjured".

Took off from RAF Lympne, Ashford, Kent at 06:30 tasked with a Tactical Recce flight from Gris Nez to the Belgian-Dutch frontier, and up to 6 miles inland from the coast. Nothing of significance was seen.

Attacked in error by Spitfires flown by Pilot Officer Stephen, Flight Sgt Mayne and Pilot Officer Cobden of No. 74 Squadron between Bourbourg and Bergues, France. Probably attacked after being misidentified for a Henschel 126. Crash-landed on return at RAF Lympne at 07:30 hrs.

Crew of Lysander P1720:
Pilot Officer J D Hall - unhurt.
Aircraftman 1st Class [Air Gunner] Harold George Littlewood, RAF 630251, age 18, killed in action 26/05/1940, buried at Hawkinge Cemetery, Folkestone, Kent UK.
R.I.P.

* P1720 must have suffered little damage in this regrettable incident as it appears from the Squadron's Operations Record book to have flown on a Tactical Recce flight the following morning ( P/O Griffiths & P/O Hare ) and again on the 28th when it failed to return from another Tac. Recce ( P/O Clapham & Sgt Brown ).

NOTE: The official Air Ministry file into the incident does not fully identify the Lysander involved. If it was a serial starting with "L48", then it would have been one of 17 serialled L4800-L4816. However, all of these have been accounted for, and none were lost on 26 May 1940

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 30)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/574: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502212
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2361189/littlewood,-harold-george/
4. Peter D. Cornwell, The Battle of France, Then and Now, 2008
5. 16 Sqdn Operations Record Book (ORB) for May 1940

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
16-Aug-2019 00:16	Dr. John Smith	Added
16-Aug-2019 00:17	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source]
16-Aug-2019 00:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Country]
19-Aug-2019 17:56	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
26-Sep-2019 08:15	angels one five	Updated [Registration, Cn, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
26-Sep-2019 09:23	angels one five	Updated [Registration, Damage, Narrative]
26-Sep-2019 10:02	angels one five	Updated [Registration, Source, Damage, Narrative]
26-Sep-2019 10:03	angels one five	Updated [Time]
26-Sep-2019 22:16	angels one five	Updated [Damage, Narrative]
15-Apr-2021 05:45	angels one five	Updated [Phase]