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Date: | Saturday 15 June 1940 |
Time: | 09:00 LT |
Type: | Lockheed Hudson Mk I |
Owner/operator: | 224 Sqn RAF |
Registration: | N7217 |
MSN: | QX-W |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | North Sea, off Sola, Rogaland -
Norway
|
Phase: | Combat |
Nature: | Military |
Departure airport: | RAF Leuchars, Fife |
Destination airport: | RAF Leuchars, Fife |
Narrative:Lockheed Hudson Mk.I N7217 (QX-W) 224 Squadron, RAF: Written off (presumed destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from combat operations over Norway. All four crew missing, presumed killed. According to the official Air Ministry file on the incident (File AIR 81/907): "Hudson N7217 lost in air operations over the North Sea, 15 June 1940. Aircraftman 1st Class S J W Baines, Sergeant T H Nicholls, Aircraftman 1st Class J Long and Pilot Officer R B Askquith-Ellis: missing presumed dead"
Took off at 06.25 hrs from RAF Leuchars, Fife, Scotland. Tasked to bomb an ammunition dump at Soma, Norway, but was shot down at 09.00 hrs by a Bf 109 of either Ofw A. Hackl or Fw Petermann of 5./JG77 off Sola, Rogaland, Norway. No survivors amongst the crew of four.
Crew of Hudson N7217:
Sergeant Thomas Hugh Nicholls, RAF 561837, age 28, posted 15/06/1940, as missing, presumed killed in action
Pilot Officer Ralph Blanshard Askquith-Ellis, (Pilot) RAF 42477, age 26, posted 15/06/1940, as missing, presumed killed in action
Aircraftman 1st Class Samuel James Watkin Baines, (Wireless Op/Air Gunner) RAF 630891, age 18, posted 15/06/1940, as missing, presumed killed in action
Sergeant John Long, RAF 621505, age 20, posted 15/06/1940, as missing, presumed killed in action
As no trace of Hudson N7217 or its crew was ever found, all four crew are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1977)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/907:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502609 3.
http://www.oldhaltonians.co.uk/pages/rememb/ROH/N.htm 4.
http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/224_squadron.html#1506 5.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1077694/nicholls,-thomas-hugh/ 6.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1083023/askquith-ellis,-ralph-blanshard/ 7.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1083189/baines,-samuel-james-watkin/ 8.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1078888/long,-john/ 9.
http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/remembering-today-15-6-40-pilot-officer-r-b-askquith-ellis-42477-royal-air-force-224-sqdn.48106/ Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
28-Sep-2019 21:37 |
Dr. John Smith |
Added |
28-Sep-2019 23:35 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Narrative] |
29-Sep-2019 08:28 |
stehlik49 |
Updated [Operator] |