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Date: | Saturday 1 June 1940 |
Time: | 08:40 |
Type: | Westland Lysander Mk II |
Owner/operator: | 26 Sqn RAF |
Registration: | L4761 |
MSN: | RM-B |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | Steenkerke, S of Veurne, West Flanders -
Belgium
|
Phase: | Combat |
Nature: | Military |
Departure airport: | RAF Lympne, Lympne, Kent (LYM/EGMK) |
Destination airport: | |
Narrative:Westland Lysander Mk.II L4761 (RM-B) 26 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (failed to return) from combat operations on 1 June 1940. Both crew killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/717): "Lysander L4761 crashed in Belgium, 1 June 1940. Leading Aircraftman A V Fitzgerald and Pilot Officer R Wilson: report of deaths".
Operation: Tactical Reconnaissance. Took off from RAF Lympne, Kent. Shot down by Lt von Moller of 1./JG 2 and crashed at Steenkerke, south of Furnes (Veurne), at 08.40 hrs.
Crew:
Pilot Officer (Pilot) Robert Wilson, RAFVR 73014, age 24, killed in action 01/06/1940
Leading Aircraftman (Air Gunner) Arthur V. Fitzgerald, RAF 581507, age 23, killed in action 01/06/1940
Both crew fatalities were buried at Steenkerke Churchyard, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. The reported crash location of Steenkerke is a rural village in the Belgian province of West Flanders and a part of the city of Veurne in northwestern Belgium, near the French border, at approximate Coordinates: 51°3′ N, 02°41′ E
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 30
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/717:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502494 3.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2253052/wilson,-robert/ 4.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2253051/fitzgerald,-arthur-vincent/ 5. Peter D. Cornwell, The Battle of France, Then and Now, 2008
6.
http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/26_squadron.html#0106 7.
https://www.ww2cemeteries.com/steenkerke-churchyard.html 8.
https://www.tracesofwar.com/sights/2610/Commonwealth-War-Graves-Communal-Cemetery-Steenkerke.htm 9.
http://www.inmemories.com/Cemeteries/steenkerkechurch.htm 10.
http://www.belgians-remember-them.eu/crash-wvl-veur4.php 11.
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steenkerke_(West-Vlaanderen)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
20 May 1940 |
L4773 |
26 Sqn RAF |
0 |
Beach near Calais, Pas de Calais, Nord Department |
|
w/o |
Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
15-Feb-2011 14:25 |
ThW |
Added |
24-May-2011 15:08 |
ThW |
Updated [Location, Source, Narrative] |
10-Jul-2015 19:27 |
DG333 |
Updated [Time, Registration, Cn, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
10-Jul-2015 19:29 |
Lotos |
Updated [Aircraft type] |
09-Nov-2018 20:59 |
Nepa |
Updated [Operator, Operator] |
02-Sep-2019 20:55 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
02-Sep-2019 20:59 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Source] |
02-Sep-2019 21:02 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Location, Source, Narrative] |
02-Sep-2019 21:24 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Narrative] |
03-Sep-2019 19:44 |
stehlík49 |
Updated [Operator] |
12-Nov-2022 23:50 |
Ron Averes |
Updated [Location] |