Date:	Wednesday 15 May 1940
Time:	01:06 LT
Type:	Handley Page Hampden Mk I
Owner/operator:	44 Sqn RAF
Registration:	P4286
MSN:	KM-K
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Den Hout, NE of Breda, Noord-Brabant -   Netherlands
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:	Breda - Communications

Narrative:
Handley Page Hampden Mk.I P4286 (KM-K) of 44 Squadron, RAF Waddington. Lost on combat operations: took off from Waddington at 01:00 hours to disrupt communications facilities in the Netherlands (Target: Breda). The plane crashed at Witte-Weg, Schransmansdreef, Den Hout, 8 km north east of Breda, Noord-Brabant on the night of 14-15/5/1940. The aircraft was coned by searchlights and hit by Moerdijk-based Flak. All four occupants died in the crash:
Crew
Pilot: 40198 Fg Off Leslie James Ashfield - Oosterhout Protestant Cemetery Grave 5.
2nd Pilot: 41380 Plt Off Charles Douglas Crawley (Australia) - Oosterhout Protestant Cemetery Grave 3.
Observer: 581187 Sgt Francis Wallace McKinlay - Oosterhout Protestant Cemetery Grave 6.
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner: 551160 Cpl Frank Preston - Oosterhout Protestant Cemetery Grave 4.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 24)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/365: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502169
3. http://www.aircrewremembered.com/ashfield-leslie.html
4. https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/air-force-operations/airplanes-allies-and-axis-lost/hampden/26081-P42861940-05-15.html
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2766383/ashfield,-leslie-james/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2766384/crawley,-charles-douglas/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2766388/mckinlay,-francis-wallace/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2766389/preston,-frank/
9. Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years part one

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Dec-2008 11:45	ASN archive	Added
15-Jul-2015 12:34	gerard57	Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
07-Dec-2015 17:52	Faun	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
25-Jun-2018 21:36	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator]
29-Jun-2018 18:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
30-Oct-2018 04:22	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
13-May-2019 14:27	TigerTimon	Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative]
11-Jul-2019 21:23	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative]
25-Mar-2020 12:57	TigerTimon	Updated [Narrative]
12-Jun-2022 14:04	Anon.	Updated [Destination airport, Narrative]
17-Jun-2022 11:15	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]