Date:	Friday 7 June 1940
Time:	15:45
Type:	Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I
Owner/operator:	264 (Madras Presidency) Sqn RAF
Registration:	L7004
MSN:	51
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Linton, Cambridgeshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Duxford, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:	RAF Duxford, Cambridgeshire

Narrative:
Defiant L7004 (PS-R) of 264 (Madras Presidency) Squadron, RAF: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 7 June 1940: Returned damaged following combat over Dunkirk 3.45 p.m. Crew abandoned aircraft after control lost, when the outer panel of the starboard wing broke off, rendering the aircraft uncontrollable.both crew bailed out safely. Aircraft came down at Linton, Cambridgeshire. According to the official file at the National Archives at Kew (File AIR 81/2218 - see link #2): "Pilot Officer W F Carnaby, Pilot Officer C C Ellery: injured, aircraft accident, Defiant L7004, 264 Squadron, 7 June 1940"

According to the biography of the pilot, William Fleming Carnaby RAF: "He was called up on 31st August 1939 and posted to 264 Squadron, operating Boulton Paul Defiants from Duxford. On 7th June 1940 he was flying Defiant L7004 which had been damaged over Dunkirk on 29th May. The damage had not been fully repaired and the aircraft went out of control. William Carnaby and his gunner, Pilot Officer Cyril Charles Ellery, were able to bale out but Ellery was seriously injured. William was admitted to RAF Duxford Sick Quarters then transferred to Littleport Hospital".

Crew of Defiant L7004
Pilot - Squadron Leader William Fleming Carnaby RAF (Service Number 90157) - bailed out, survived with minor injuries
W Op/Air Gunner - Pilot Officer Cyril Charles Ellery (Service Number 77374) - bailed out, survived with serious injuries

Squadron Leader William Fleming Caraby was flying De Havilland Mosquito Mk NF2 HJ918/'VY-P', on 5th February 1943 when it broke up in mid air and crashed 2 miles east of RAF Church Fenton, North Yorkshire. Also killed with him was Flying Officer James Hector Lennox-Kemp

P/O Cyril Ellery not only survived the war, but lived until on 20th March 1977 when he died in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, aged 71.

The crash location Linton is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, on the border with Essex. The village is approximately 8 miles southeast from the city and county town of Cambridge.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 48)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/2218: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16471465
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=L7004
5. http://601squadron.com/men-of-601-squadron/a-through-e/carnaby-william-fleming/
6. https://www.key.aero/comment/1667261#comment-1667261
7. https://www.undyingmemory.net/Newmarket/carnaby%20william.html
8. https://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Carnaby.htm
9. https://bbm.org.uk/airmen/Ellery.htm
11. https://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/york43/hj918.html
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linton,_Cambridgeshire

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
06-Jul-2022 16:16	Dr. John Smith	Added
06-Jul-2022 16:19	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
06-Jul-2022 22:56	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]