Date:	Sunday 4 August 1940
Time:	day
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk 1
Owner/operator:	RAE Exeter
Registration:	K7558
MSN:	F.2316
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Tiverton, Devon -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Exeter, Devon
Destination airport:	RAF Exeter, Devon

Narrative:
Fairey Battle Mk.1 K7558: First production Battle Mk.1 (first of 155 ordered to Contract 424738/35, and the only one of this batch built by Fairey Aircraft at Hayes - all other 154 aircraft were built at Heaton Chapel, Stockport, Cheshire). First flown 14 April 1937 after being transported by road to Barton Airfield, Salford, Manchester. 21 Test flights were made from Barton before the flight test programme was transferred to Ringway Airfield (the site of the present-day Manchester Airport)

Delivered 6 July 1937 to the A&AEE at Martlesham Heath, Ipswich, Suffolk for evaluation and trials. Transferred to the RAE at Farnborough 25 April 1938 for handling tests. Returned to the Manufacturers (Fairey Aircraft Co Ltd) for development and trials of flaps. Upon completion of these trials, delivered to the RAF at 38 MU Llandow on 21 June 1940. Next issued to the RAE at Exeter on 4 August 1940.

Written off (damaged beyond repair) 27 August 1940 when engine failed, and the aircraft belly landed near Tiverton, Devon. K7558 caught fire on impact. No reports of crew injuries. Formally Struck Off Charge as Cat.E(FA) 4 September 1940.

1. The K File - The RAF of the 1930s (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1995 p.125)
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976)
3. The Battle File (Sidney Shail, Air Britain, 1997 p.19/p.125).
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File DSIR 23/7294: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2421515
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AVIA 6/2282: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4012610
6. https://1000aircraftphotos.com/APS/2065L.jpg
7. http://www.letletlet-warplanes.com/2018/02/17/the-lost-battle/
8. http://www.edendale.co.uk/download/MAS%20Sep-Oct%201966.pdf

Fairey Battle K7558 (Early air-to-air promotion shot, July 1937):

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Oct-2020 22:38	Dr. John Smith	Added