Date:	Tuesday 28 May 1940
Time:	12:05 LT
Type:	Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I
Owner/operator:	264 (Madras Presidency) Sqn RAF
Registration:	L6959
MSN:	PS-X
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	English Channel near Wissant, NW of Dunkirk, Pas de Calais -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Manston, Ramsgate, Kent
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Boulton Paul Defiant Mk.I L6959 (PS-X) 264 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (failed to return) from a combat air patrol over the Dunkirk-Calais sector. Both crew killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/661): "Defiant L6959 lost in air operations over the Dunkirk area, France, 28 May 1940. Acting Flight Lieutenant E H Whitehouse and Pilot Officer H Scott: reported missing presumed dead"

Shot down in combat with Bf109s of 6./JG51 over the Channel north-west of Dunkirk 12.05 hrs. Possibly shot down by Oberlt Priller (Staffelkapitän) near Wissant. 264 Squadron claimed six German planes destroyed, for the loss of four of their own (L6953, L6957, L6959, and L7007)

Crew of Defiant L6959:
Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) Edward Hammond Whitehouse, RAF 42035, age 24, posted 28/05/1940, as missing presumed dead (but see note below)
Pilot Officer (Air Gunner) Horace Scott, RAFVR 77368, age 33, killed in action 28/05/1940, buried at Longuenesse (St. Omer) Souvenir Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France

One unusual "twist in the tale" is that Flight Lieutenant Edward H Whitehouse was posted as "missing presumed dead" - which means that his body was never found. Hence he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, and also on two Aberystwyth War Memorials. However, in November 2015 a family member reported that Edward Hammond Whitehouse survived until 1980. That is, he did not perish as per the above, but survived WWII, lived another 40 years, and died in 1980 aged 64!

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 48)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/660: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502243
3. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/264_squadron.html#2805
4. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=5118
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1531449/whitehouse,-edward-hammond/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2279952/scott,-horace/
7. Air Battle for Dunkirk: 26 May - 3 June 1940 By Norman Franks
8. The Boulton Paul Defiant: Day and Night Fighter By Phil H. Listemann
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wissant
10. http://historypoints.org/index.php?page=aberystwyth-war-memorial-sww-surnames-k-z
11. https://www.wwwmp.co.uk/ceredigion-memorials/aberystwyth-county-school-war-memorial/ ..

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Aug-2019 22:34	Dr. John Smith	Added
27-Aug-2019 23:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
27-Aug-2019 23:51	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
28-Aug-2019 12:21	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
16-Apr-2020 15:08	Allach	Updated [Operator, Operator]
01-Jul-2022 20:43	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative, Category]