Date:	Friday 19 July 1940
Time:	12:45
Type:	Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I
Owner/operator:	141 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L7001
MSN:	TW-D
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Hawkinge, Folkestone, Kent, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Hawkinge, Folkestone, Kent
Destination airport:	RAF Hawkinge

Narrative:
Boulton Paul Defiant Mk.I L7001 (TW-D), 141 Squadron, RAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) when damaged in air combat operations off the coast of Kent. Both crew survived, but one was injured. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/1145 - see link #2): "Defiant L7801 [sic] crashed at Hawkinge Aerodrome, Kent, 19 July 1940. Acting Flight Lieutenant M J Loudon: injured"

According to published sources
"If these few days in mid-July showed the first hints of vulnerability of the Ju87 Stuka, they also tragically proved the unsuitability of the Defiant for front line fighter duties. These turret fighters of 141 Squadron were unblooded until 19 July, when they were moved down to Hawkinge from West Malling. The day had dawned clear, vulnerable convoys were numerous and trouble was expected.
The 19th was a disastrous day for the RAF. 141 Squadron Biggin Hill (Defiants) twelve of which had just recently arrived within 11 Group from Turnhouse and on this day had flown from West Malling to operate out of Hawkinge. They took off on routine patrol at 12:32 hrs, ordered to patrol a line just south of Folkestone at 5,000 feet. Three of the aircraft had aborted the patrol because of engine malfunctions.
At 13.00 hrs, the nine Defiants were patrolling in the middle of the English Channel, it was obvious that they were unaware of 16 Bf 109 flying "up sun" and were were unexpectedly jumped on without any warning by the Bf109s of JG51 led by Oberleutnant Hannes Trautloft. One by one the RAF fighters fell from the sky into the channel, being no match for the far superior Bf 109 (the Defiant could only attack and defend itself from the sides and the rear, as it had no forward facing guns).
Six Defiants were shot down in rapid succession while three just managed to make it back to Hawkinge, thanks to the intervention of 111 Squadron from RAF Northolt (flying Hurricanes) while one Bf109 was severely damaged and crashed on landing back at its base. Serious thought was now to be given as to the future of the Defiant in the role of a front line fighter.
Only the belated arrival of John Thompson's Hurricanes of 111 Squadron saved the last of 141 Squadron. Three pilots got back to Hawkinge, one of them without his gunner and in an aircraft (Defiant L7001) that could never fly again".
Crew:
F/Lt (37293) Malcolm John LOUDON DFC (pilot) RAF: injured
P/O (77374) Eric FARNES (AG) RAF: bailed out, injured but rescued from sea

L7001, was badly damaged and crashed near Hawkinge due to engine failure with the pilot, F/Lt. Loudon wounded. The Air Gunner, P/O Eric Farnes baled out and was rescued from the sea, uninjured. Only two of the nine aircraft got safely back to base.

Flt Lt M J Loudon returned to the squadron from hospital on 16th August 1940. He was posted away to No. 1 FTS Netheravon on the 30th as an instructor. In early April 1941 Loudon was posted to 242 Squadron at Martlesham Heath as 'A' Flight Commander. On 4th July he shot down a Me109 on a bomber-escort operation to Bethune. He left 242 on 23rd July to take command of 603 Squadron at Hornchurch.

In October 1941 Loudon was sent to the Middle East, ostensibly for three weeks, to brief Desert Air Force squadrons on current Fighter Command tactics. He remained out there and was given command of a Wing. He was awarded the DFC (gazetted 26th December 1941). Loudon later went on to the staff of HQ Desert Air Force.

In January 1944 he was appointed Wing Leader 324 Wing in Italy. Soon afterwards he was on a fighter sweep north of Rome when he suffered engine failure and baled out. He dislocated both shoulders on landing and was captured. He was held in Stalag Luft III. Freed in May 1945, Loudon was released from the RAF in 1946 as a Wing Commander. He emigrated to the USA but returned to the UK in 1988. He died on 20th September 1997.

On 5th May 1941, while serving with 255 Squadron, Squadron Leader R L Smith and P/O Eric Farnes in Defiant N3378 shot down a Ju.88 off Donna Nook at night. His subsequent service is currently undocumented until 1947 when Farnes was released from the RAF as a Squadron Leader. He was awarded a Mention in Dispatches in 1946. He died on 23rd September 1985 in Winchester.

Note that the official Air Ministry file AIR 81/1145 contains an error: the serial of the Boulton Paul Defiant involved was L7001, and NOT L7801. (The serial L7801 was allocated to a Fairey Albacore which served with the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm).

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/1145: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14503084
3. 141 Squadron ORB (Operational Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/10/1939 to 31/12/1941: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/969 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2503608
4. https://www.battleofbritain1940.net/0021.html
5. http://spitfiresite.com/2010/07/battle-of-britain-1940-boulton-paul-defiant.html
6. https://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/military-history/world-war-two/art512084-boulton-paul-defiant-rescued-by-kent-battle-of-britain-museum-at-hawkinge
7. https://www.facebook.com/rememberthefew/posts/the-battle-of-britain-19-july-1940-today-tragically-has-gone-down-in-raf-history/10151476558980496/
8. http://bofb1940.blogspot.com/2015/07/boulton-paul-defiant-stupid-idea-or.html
9. https://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/FarnesE.htm
10. https://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Loudon.htm

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Oct-2019 17:40	Dr. John Smith	Added
27-Oct-2019 22:15	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
05-Jul-2022 13:07	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, Category]