Date:	Saturday 1 June 1940
Time:	16:45
Type:	Westland Lysander Mk II
Owner/operator:	2 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L4809
MSN:	KO-B
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Aircraft missing
Location:	English Channel, near Nieuwpoort, West Flanders -   Belgium
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Bekesbourne, Canterbury, Kent
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Westland Lysander Mk.II L4809 (KO-B) 2 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (failed to return) from combat operations 1 June 1940. Both crew killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/715): "Lysander L4809 failed to return from air operations over France, 1 June 1940. Leading Aircraftman R W Michelmore and Flying Officer A F Doidge: missing presumed dead".

Airborne from RAF Bekesbourne, Canterbury, Kent, for a Tactical Reconnaissance sortie in the Dunkirk-Calais area. Shot down by Hptmn Schellmann (Gruppenkommandeur) of Stab II./JG2 and crashed in the Channel between Nieuport and de Panne, West Falnders, Belgium at 16.45 hrs. Both crew missing, presumed killed.

Crew of Lysander L4809:
Flying Officer (pilot) Anthony Frederick Doidge, RAF 39719, DFC, Mentioned in Despatches, age 24, posted 01/06/1940, as missing presumed dead
Sergeant (Air Gunner) Ian Richard Willerval Michelmore, RAF 531479, age 21, posted 01/06/1940, as missing presumed dead

As no trace of Lysander L4809 or its crew of two was ever found, they were commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. On April 29, 1941, F/O Anthony Doidge received the DFC posthumously with effect from May 24, 1940. The award was probably in recognition of his two victories in air to air combat. While flying a Lysander (not usually regarded as a fighter aircraft...) on May 22, 1940, he made a tactical reconnaissance over the front when the crew met a Ju 87 over the Kassel sector. The aircraft was shot down by his gunner, LAC Webborn. Continuing their flight, the two men came across an Henschel Hs 126 which flew in their direction, slightly below. This time, it was F/O Doidge who shot him down with his front machine gun.

The reported crash location of De Panne (French: La Panne) is a town and a municipality located on the North Sea coast of the Belgian province of West Flanders at approximate Coordinates: 51°06′N 02°35′E. There it borders France, which implies that it is the westernmost location of Belgium.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/715: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502492
3. Peter D. Cornwell, The Battle of France, Then and Now, 2008
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/232322/doidge,-anthony-frederick/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1076783/michelmore,-ian-richard-willerval/
6. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/2_squadron.html#0106
7. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=12523
8. http://www.cieldegloire.com/002_raf_doidge_a_f.php
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Panne

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-Sep-2019 19:55	Dr. John Smith	Added
03-Sep-2019 19:44	stehlík48	Updated [Operator]
15-Nov-2022 13:59	Ron Averes	Updated [Location, Damage]
07-Dec-2023 20:14	Anon.	Updated [Narrative]