Date:	Saturday 24 August 1940
Time:	16:00
Type:	Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I
Owner/operator:	264 (Madras Presidency) Sqn RAF
Registration:	L6996
MSN:	44
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	RAF Hornchurch, Essex, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Taxi
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Hornchurch, Essex
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Defiant L6969 (PS-L) of 264 (Madras Presidency) Squadron, RAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 24 August 1940: This Defiant was damaged in collision with another aircraft during a scramble from RAF Hornchurch, Essex on 24th August 1940. At 16.00 P/O Anthony O'Connell was taxying in Defiant L6996 when a bursting bomb created a dust cloud, which obscured the pilots vision, leading to him colliding with Defiant L7006. Neither crew appears to have been seriously injured.

As stated in the official file at the National Archives at Kew (Fle AIR81/2762 - see link #2): "Pilot Officer A O'Connell: injured; Pilot Officer K Hackwood, Pilot Officer A J Storrie, Flying Officer D K C O'Malley: uninjured; aircraft accident, Hornchurch, ground collision between Defiant L7006 and Defiant L6996, 264 Squadron, 24 August 1940

Crew of Defiant L6996:
Pilot Pilot Officer Anthony O'Connell, RAF (uninjured)
Air Gunner Pilot Officer K Hackwood RAF (uninjured)

According to another published source (see link #5); "[Defiant] 'PS-L' is something of a mystery. It appears to be L6996 (the last two digits of the serial being 96) that was apparently lost on 24 August 1940, however there is no trace of this loss that day. The aircraft flew on the second patrol of that day with N1535 and L6985, but its crew took another aircraft for the following patrol, L7021 in which that crew (Pilot Officer David Whitley and Sergeant Robert Turner) claimed an enemy aircraft destroyed. Even if it is not recorded correctly in the ORB, it is possible that the aircraft was badly damaged and struck off charge as L6996 disappeared from the Squadron’s inventory after this date".

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 48)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/2762: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16472125
3. 264 Squadron ORB (Operational Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/10/1939 to 31/12/1945: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR27/1553 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2504195
4. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=L6996
5. https://www.raf-in-combat.com/downloads/july-2015-bp-defiant-the-early-days-22-photos/
6. https://www.key.aero/article/battle-britain-fighter-squadrons-five-few
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Hornchurch#Second_World_War

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
05-Jul-2022 12:10	Dr. John Smith	Added
05-Jul-2022 12:12	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Phase]
05-Jul-2022 19:10	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]