ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 228455
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| Date: | Wednesday 29 May 1940 |
| Time: | 17:30 LT |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire Mk Ia |
| Owner/operator: | 64 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | N3272 |
| MSN: | 484 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Dunkirk, Pas de Calais -
 France
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Kenley, Whyteleafe, Surrey |
N3272: Spitfire Mk.Ia (C/no. 484). First Flown 2-1-40. Delivered to the RAF at 9 MU RAF Cosford 16-1-40. Issued to 64 Squadron as "SH-N" 13-5-40. Written off (presumed destroyed) when Failed To Return from combat operations over Dunkirk, France 29-5-40; pilot killed. Total Flying Hours 9.00.
According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/629): "Spitfire N3271 [*sic] failed to return from an operational flight over Dunkirk, France, 29 May 1940. Pilot Officer H B Hackney: missing presumed dead"
Airborne from RAF Kenley, Whyteleafe, Surrey for a combat air patrol over the Dunkirk-Calais sector. Presumed shot down over Dunkirk, by Bf-109s at 17.30, and the pilot presumed killed.
Crew of Spitfire N3272
Pilot Officer Herbert Branwell Hackney, RAF 43167, age 26, posted 29/05/1940, as missing presumed dead
As no trace of Spitfire N3272 or its pilot was ever found, the pilot is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
Note that the official Air Ministry fille (AIR 81/629) is in error. The Spitfire involved as N3272 and NOT N3271. Spitfire N3271 spun into ground near Beverley, North Yorkshire, and its pilot, Sgt Walsh, was killed on 4-8-40 some three months later
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1977 p 18)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/629: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502050
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1799039/hackney,-herbert-branwell/
4. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/64_squadron.html#2905
5. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p003.html
6. http://www.oldhaltonians.co.uk/pages/rememb/ROH/19.htm
7. http://allspitfirepilots.org/aircraft/N3272
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 23-Aug-2019 23:03 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 24-Aug-2019 08:25 | stehlik49 | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
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