ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 228654
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Friday 31 May 1940 |
| Time: | 14:40 LT |
| Type: |  Hawker Hurricane Mk 1 |
| Owner/operator: | 213 (Ceylon) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | P3424 |
| MSN: | AK-P |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | South of Dunkerque, Pas de Calais -
 France
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Manston, Ramsgate, Kent |
Hawker Hurricane Mk.I P3424 (AK-P) 213 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (failed to return) from combat air patrol over Dunkerque. Pilot survived, but injured. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/700): "Hurricane P3424 lost in air operations over Dunkirk, France, 31 May 1940. Pilot Officer W M Sizer: injured"
213 Squadron was involved in a fierce dogfight over Dunkirk with German fighters escorting a bomber formation preparing to bomb the evacuation convoys. Pilot, Pilot Officer W M "Wilf" Sizer attacked a Bf 109, which he shot down before he was attacked from behind. He managed to damage another Bf 109, but was heavily outnumbered, and his Hurricane was hit and set on fire by Bf109s of III./JG26. He managed to crash land just south of Dunkirk, and managed to join the evacuation convoys, returning to his unit.
Wilfred Max Sizer survived WWII, rising to the rank of Wing Commander, and died on December 22 2006, aged 86. His obituary in the Daily Telegraph (January 4 2007) makes mention of his activities on May 31 1940:
"...the squadron was involved in a fierce dogfight with German fighters escorting a bomber formation preparing to bomb the evacuation convoys. Sizer attacked a Bf 109, which he shot down before he was attacked from behind. He managed to damage another Bf 109, but was heavily outnumbered, and his Hurricane was hit and set on fire. He managed to crash land just south of Dunkirk.
Sizer took the parachute from his wrecked aircraft, but left it in the sidecar of a motorcycle that had come to his aid. Realising that it was missing, he returned to retrieve it (as the squadron's parachute officer, he had often exhorted his colleagues to rescue the precious item in the event of a crash).
Clutching his parachute, he was about to board a destroyer in Dunkirk harbour when a beach-master ordered him to leave and join a Clyde paddle steamer, the Plynlimon. As the steamer was setting off, a swarm of Stuka dive-bombers attacked the destroyer, and a direct hit ripped it apart.
Sizer returned to No 213 to discover that he was one of five squadron pilots posted as missing from the morning's fighting. Following his experiences on the Plynlimon, he never forgot the role played by the "little ships" during the evacuation from Dunkirk."
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain. 1978 p 20)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/700: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502364
3. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=7559
4. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/213_squadron.html#3105
5. http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/516716-sergeant-pilot-thomas-boyd-no-213-squadron-raf.19982/#post-241878
6. https://213squadronassociation.homestead.com/Secondworldwar.html
7. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1538479/Wing-Commander-Wilf-Sizer.html
8. http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Sizer.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-Sep-2019 02:08 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 02-Sep-2019 08:44 | stehlík49 | Updated [Operator] |
| 03-Nov-2019 10:57 | Anon. | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation