Date:	Sunday 30 June 1940
Time:	morning
Type:	Vickers Wellesley Mk I
Owner/operator:	223 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L2654
MSN:	OA-B
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Gura Aerodrome, Asmara, Debub Region -   Eritrea
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Summit ALG, Port Sudan, Sudan
Destination airport:	RAF Summit ALG, Port Sudan, Sudan

Narrative:
Vickers Wellesley Mk.I L2654 (OA-B) 223 Squadron, RAF: Written off (presumed destroyed) when lost (Failed to Return) from combat operations over Eritrea. Both crew posted as missing presumed killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/1004): "Wellesley L2694 [*sic] failed to return from an operational flight over Italian East Africa, 30 June 1940. Sergeant B Poskitt and Leading Aircraftman L P Jepp: missing presumed dead"

Took off 04:35 hours, from RAF Summit ALG, Port Sudan, Sudan, one of five aircraft detailed to bomb Massawa in Eritrea (known at the time as "Italian East Africa"). The formation was attacked by one CR.32 and two CR.42 fighters of the Reggia Aeronautica (Italian Air Force), which probably shot this aircraft down. Both crew missing, presumed killed

Crew of Wellesley L2654:
Sergeant Bernard Poskitt (Pilot), RAF 522475, age 24, posted 30/06/1940, as missing, presumed killed
Leading Aircraftman Lewis Peter Jepp (Wireless Op./Air Gunner), RAF 550735, age 20, posted 30/06/1940, as missing, presumed killed

As no trace of either crew member was ever found, they are commemorated on the El Alamein Memorial, Egypt.

Note that the official Air Ministry file (AIR 81/1004) is in error; the Wellesley involved in the above incident was L2654, NOT L2694. Wellesley L2694 was shot down on 16 June 1940 (two weeks earlier) over Gura, Asmara, Eritrea with loss of the crew of two (which see)

1. Royal Air force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 18)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/1004: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502843
3. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/223_squadron.html
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1282222/poskitt,-bernard/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1810368/jepp,-lewis-peter/
6. https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/vickers-wellesley
7. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ww2images/6902428071/
8. Gladiator vs CR.42 Falco: 1940–41 p 42 By Håkan Gustavsson, Ludovico Slongo

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
04-Oct-2019 19:46	Dr. John Smith	Added
04-Oct-2019 19:47	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
08-Oct-2019 11:08	juza7	Updated [Operator]