ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 239149
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| Date: | Sunday 14 November 1943 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Bristol Beaufighter Mk XIc |
| Owner/operator: | 46 (Uganda) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | JL894 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Missing - Mediterranean Sea -
 Greece
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Lakatamia, Cyprus |
Beaufighter JL894 (46Sqn). Shot down by Bf-109s off Leros island. 14/11/43
On the 14th November 1943, at approx 14:15 hrs, four Beaus of 46 sqn, in company with five Beaus of 227 Sqn carried out an offensive sweep of Leros Island area. The formation headed in a S.W. direction towards Leros Island in two sections line abreast with 46 Sqn in the rear. The leader of 46 Sqn section – F/L Crerar, D., sighted a HE.111 to port at 90 deg. to the formation. Accompanied by his No.2, F/O Horsfall, he broke away to port and attacked it and destroyed it. On the completion of the attack he found that the entire formation had turned towards the HE.111. At this stage the ME.109s were sighted and the leader gave orders to make for the Turkish coast. WO Lindsey meanwhile had dropped back in the turn with two other aircraft, thus being isolated from the main formation. F/L Crerar dropped behind the main formation and endevoured to bring up the stragglers to line abreast. At this stage he saw F/O Horsfall’s aircraft, “F”, turning port back towards Leros, presumably to take photographs, and he was at once instructed to rejoin the formation.
During this time it was noticed that the three isolated aircraft were flying on a diverging course to the main formation taking them to the North – the ME.109s being some distance behind. One ME.109 detached himself from the formation of four and came straight for the main formation of Beaus. He then spotted the stragglers, turned port, and attacked WO Lindsey who was by now isolated from the other two aircraft. His aircraft was seen to be hit and it dived into the sea out of control. The position of the crash was completely obliterated by fire – the only wreckage being wrecked fuel tanks floating in the vicinity. This position is approximately 37’36″N 26’52” E.
It is F/L Crerar’s belief that he saw aircraft “F” (F/O Horsfall’s machine) in the formation at a later stage and that he received a reply on calling up No.2 (F/O Horsfall) some 5 minutes later, although the answer was unintelligible. Nothing more was seen or heard of F/O Horsfall.
Subsequent inquiries reveal that two other crews are fairly certain that they saw two ME.109s engaging a Beau in the position of the ditch HE.111. This is by no means definite. As soon as the main formation reached the Turkish coast, they split up and proceeded to base independently.”
Crew:
W/O (1065996) Ronald LINDSEY (pilot) RAFVR - killed
F/Sgt (1385948) Alfred Charles Arnold GARDENER (nav.) RAFVR - killled
Sources:
http://aviationarchaeology.gr/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Beaufighter-losses-in-Greece-1941-19464.pdf
https://46squadron.org/1941/03/obituaries-of-the-heroes-of-the-north-african-campaign/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-Aug-2020 20:40 | Nepa | Added [Operator] |
| 08-Aug-2020 16:36 | Nepa | Updated [Source, Narrative, Operator] |
| 19-Oct-2022 10:45 | Nepa | Updated [Departure airport, Narrative, Operator] |
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