ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 229327
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: | Tuesday 14 May 1940 |
| Time: | 10:55 LT |
| Type: |  Hawker Hurricane Mk 1 |
| Owner/operator: | 607 (County of Durham) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | P2713 |
| MSN: | AF-T |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Perwez, Walloon Brabant -
 Belgium
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Vitry-en-Artois, France |
Hawker Hurricane Mk.I P2713 (AF-T) 607 (County of Durham) Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed to return from a Combat Air Patrol over the France/Belgium border. Pilot killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/885): "Pilot Officer A E Le Breuilly: missing presumed dead; aircraft failed to return from air operations, France, 14 May 1940".
Airborne from Vitry-en-Artois, France, for a combat air patrol over the France/Belgium border. According to the book "Twelve Days in May" (Cull/Lander/Weiss) P/O Le Breuilly was shot down by Bf 109 of 4/JG.2 piloted by Fw. Seigfried Schnell, and crashed at Perwez, near Gembloux.
In the text of this book, it also mentions another Hurricane coming down near Perwez,"near where, it is believed, F/O Arthur Le Breuilly,s Hurricane (P2713) also crashed". 607 (County of Durham) Squadron RAF lost three Hurricanes and three pilots on 14 May 1940 - P2713, P2618 and P2621.
Crew of Hurricane P2713:
Pilot Officer Arthur Eugene Le Breuilly, RAF 42615, age 23, posted 14/05/1940 as missing, presumed killed.
Arthur Eugene Le Breuilly appears to have joined 607 Squadron in April, 1940. He is thought to have come from No 1 Air Armament School at RAF Manby, he gets only one mention in the 607 Squadron ORB and none of the known pilots logbooks mention him either.
The only entry in the ORB says he was 'Killed'. He is generally accepted to have been shot down in the area of Gembloux with F/O Monty Thompson, May 14, 1940. Le Breuilly has no known grave, some of the pilots killed during this period were buried by the locals and their graves may not be recorded.
As no trace of P/O Le Breuilly was ever found, he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. It is also notable that the CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) lists P/O Le Breuilly as being with 87 Squadron (not 607 (County of Durham) Squadron. However, it is also relevant to note that all of 607 (County of Durham) Squadron's records were destroyed on or about 21 May 1940, when the squadron evacuated from France, to prevent them from falling into enemy hands.For anyone about to look in the squadron ORB they will be met with a blank space covering the last ten days in France. Thus, the official records for the period 11-21 May 1940 were destroyed, and what exists for the period was largely reconstructed "from memory" some five months later.
Lastly on this subject, there is a headstone in Gembloux Communal Cemetery, Rue de Bordia, Gembloux, Belgium (see link #8) inscribed "An Airman of the 1939-45 War. Royal Air Force 11 May 1940, Known Unto God". Some sources believe this to be the unmarked grave of P/O Le Breuilly - although the "11 May 1940" date doesn't fit
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/885: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502587
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1803222/le-breuilly,-arthur-eugene/
4. http://aircrewremembered.com/le-breuilly-arthur.html
5. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/607_squadron.html#1405
6. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/14039.php
7. Photo of pilot: http://norav.50megs.com/cgi-bin/i/images/arthur_le_breuilly.jpg
8. http://bel-memorial.org/cities/namur/gembloux/gembloux_tombes_RAF.htm
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perwez
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Sep-2019 19:39 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 26-Sep-2019 11:29 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator] |
| 06-Nov-2022 01:30 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
| 13-Nov-2022 01:41 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
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