Date:	Wednesday 29 May 1940
Time:	18:20
Type:	Avro Anson Mk I
Owner/operator:	500 (County of Kent) Sqn RAF
Registration:	N5065
MSN:	MK-N
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North Sea, 7 miles off Ramsgate, Kent, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Detling, Kent
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Avro Anson Mk.I N5065 (MK-N*) 500 (County of Kent) Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (failed to return) from a combat operation ("Shamrock Patrol") on 29 May 1940. All four crew survived. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/658): "Anson N5065 in air operations off the Ostend coast, Belgium, 29 May 1940. Pilot Officer A Leeson: missing, later reported safe. Sergeant J Hoskins, Acting Corporal R Rogers and Leading Aircraftman P G Honnor: safe".

Took off from RAF Detling, Maidstone, Kent to attack targets off the Belgian coast off Ostende, West Flanders; shot down on the return leg by Bf-109's of JG.26 off Ramsgate, Kent, piloted by F.W. Meyer. The crew of the vessel "Royal Daffoldil II" witnessed the Anson being shot down, and were therefore in a position to rescue the crew. According to an eyewitness report from one of the crew:

"Richard Rodgers, recalled: '“The month of May 1940 was to prove very hectic. We were all very keyed-up and practically living in our flying clothing as we always seemed to be in the air. We had hourly knowledge of what was happening across the Channel, being very much involved in it first-hand and being chased home by enemy fighters. We were eating and sleeping at the dispersal area in requisitioned buildings with hardly any time to wash or change clothes. I was carrying out two sorties a day for most of the month.

Dunkirk had fallen toward the end of the month and we were covering the evacuation. Several times we managed to avoid being shot down and got back home, but on the 29th we were attacked by a number of enemy fighters at low level. The fuel tanks caught fire and we were pounded with bullets. Sergeant Jack Hoskins, the pilot, pancaked the aircraft onto the sea during which I was thrown forward on impact and broke my left collar-bone and left shoulder.

We came down in the sea about seven miles off the coast at 18.20 hours. The sun was shining and the sea was calm. Sergeant Hoskins, under heavy attack, skillfully bought the aircraft down not far from one of the many small ships that were bringing home the soldiers from the beaches. We were fortunate to be picked up by a tug which was already full with troops.

Watching the old Anson slowly slip beneath the waves, I realised I was in considerable pain and also suffering from shock. A kindly Petty Officer strapped up my shoulder and gave me some rum to drink. During the night we were transferred to a paddle steamer, The Royal Daffodil, and the following morning we arrived at Ramsgate. From there I was taken to Farnborough hospital where I remained for six and a half weeks. I had completed 35 operational patrols during the month. I later learnt that my W/T SOS had been received by the powerful receivers at Manston and I was extremely pleased to hear this as when one is transmitting under attack, it is difficult to concentrate."

*Note: Ansons N5065 and N5227 were both shot down on the same day - May 29th. One was coded "MK-L" and one was coded "MK-N"; however various published sources differ as to which code was applied to which aircraft. In addition, reports that Anson N5065 was shot down on May 30th stem from the fact that crew were landed at Ramsgate on the morning of May 30th, some twelve hours after being shot down, which was the first opportunity they had to report the loss of their aircraft, and the fact that all four crew had survived.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1977 p 29)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/658: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502241
3. The Anson File (Ray Sturtivant, Air Britain, 1988 p 50)
4. Ross McNeill, Coastal Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 1 (1939-1941), p 38, Midland publishing, 2003. ISBN: 1 85780 128 8
5. Detling Airfield: A History 1915-1959 By Anthony J. Moor
6. http://www.kenthistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=13944.0
7. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/500_squadron.html#3005
8. http://survincity.com/2015/11/avro-anson-gunships/
9. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?p=234222

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Aug-2019 20:55	Dr. John Smith	Added
28-Aug-2019 12:22	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]