ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 2600
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Monday 8 July 1940 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 610 (County of Chester) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | L1075 |
| MSN: | 289 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | English Channel, 6 miles off Dover, Kent, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Biggin Hill, Bromley, Kent |
L1075: Spitfire Ia (c/no.289) First Flown 10-8-39. Delivered to the RAF at 24 MU 14-8-39. Issued to 610 (County of Chester) Squadron as "DW-N" 5-10-39. Written off (presumed destroyed) when Failed To Return for combat air patrol operation 9-7-40. Pilot missing, presumed killed
According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR81/1046): "Pilot Officer A L B Raven: missing presumed dead; Spitfire L1075 lost in air operations, 8 July 1940"
Airborne from RAF Biggin Hill, Bromley, Kent, for a day combat air patrol off Dover, Kent. On 8 July 1940, 32 and 610 Squadrons were assigned to maintain section strength convoy escorts. While attacking a formation of 9 Dornier Do 215s, some 10 miles off Dover, Pilot Officer Arthur L B Raven's Spitfire was hit and set on fire.
P/O Arthur L B Raven managed to ditch his aircraft and was seen in the water. With no dinghy and wearing a sea-green "Mae West" life jacket, it proved impossible to spot him again in the choppy waters of the Channel. Therefore, he was not found or recovered.
Unusually, he appears on the Canadian Memorials but they do not give any personal information about him or his family. He does not appear in British birth registrations. If this implies that he was a Canadian, either by birth or acquiring citizenship, then he was never officially registered or recorded as such. Thus his origins are somewhat obscure!
Crew of Spitfire L1075:
Pilot Officer Arthur Lionel Boultbee Raven, RAFVR 91089, posted 08/07/1940 as missing, presumed dead, and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/1046: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502912
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2939902/raven,-arthur-lionel-boultbee/
4. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p002.html
5. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showpost.php?p=22965&postcount=5
6. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2939902
7. http://www.theygavetheirtoday.com/shrivenham.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Feb-2008 05:20 | JINX | Added |
| 06-Jan-2011 19:06 | angels one five | Updated [Date, Operator, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 26-Dec-2011 12:43 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 10-Jan-2012 15:26 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Departure airport] |
| 04-Nov-2012 21:53 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative] |
| 07-Aug-2013 15:15 | JINX | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 01-Mar-2014 21:54 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 09-Oct-2019 19:54 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 09-Oct-2019 20:01 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 09-Oct-2019 20:03 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 10-Oct-2019 16:36 | juza7 | Updated [Operator] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation