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 15 April 1940 |
Time: | night |
Type: | Bristol Beaufort Mk I |
Owner/operator: | 22 Sqn RAF |
Registration: | L4465 |
MSN: | OA-G |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
Other fatalities: | 0 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | North Sea off Spurn Head, East Yorkshire, England -
United Kingdom
|
Phase: | En route |
Nature: | Military |
Departure airport: | RAF North Coates, Lincolnshire |
Destination airport: | |
Narrative:Bristol Beaufort Mk.I L4465 ("OA-G") 22 Squadron RAF: Ditched after engine failure after mine-laying in the River Elbe, off Wilhelmshaven, Germany. (Officially listed "Beaufort L4456 missing in air operations, mine laying in the River Elbe, 15/16 April 1940"). Aircraft believed ditched into the North Sea off Spurn Head, East Yorkshire. This was the the first successful "op" for 22 Squadron's Beauforts: on the night of 15-16/4/40 nine aircraft were tasked on a "Gardening" (minelaying) sortie.
All crew of Beaufort L4465 lost:
F/O Arthur R. Fordham, RAF 70220, missing presumed dead, commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial
Sgt Gerald Greenwood, RAF 566263, killed in action, buried Donisthorpe Cemetery, UK
AC1st Class Joseph Wells, RAF 617573, missing presumed dead, commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial
LAC (Air Gunner) Edmund W.J. Picot, RAF 364162, buried Easton-on-the-Hill (All Saints) Churchyard, Northamptonshire
L4465 Took off from North Coates at 19.39 hrs on 15/4/40. Ditched into the North Sea off Spurn Head with engine failure while on a mining operation off the river Elbe (Germany). The two missing men are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
The "op" took place on the night of 15-16/4/40; however, as the officially recorded date of death for the crew is 15/4/40, it is presumed that L4465 crashed before midnight
Sources:
1. Air Britain RAF Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain 1978 p 27
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/148:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14141898 3. Coastal Command Losses of the Second World War by Ross McNeil (pages 28-29)
4.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1270218/fordham,-arthur-raymond/ 5.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2718812/greenwood,-gerald/ 6.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1531232/wells,-joseph/ 7.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2949272/picot,-edmund-william-john/ 8.
https://www.docdroid.net/s5XMPzI/beaufort-bomb-mines-torpedoes-flypast-2014-10.pdf#page=2 9.
http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/XXII_squadron.html 10.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spurn 11.
http://www.oldhaltonians.co.uk/pages/rememb/ROH/8.htm Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
19-Mar-2008 09:44 |
JINX |
Added |
17-Jun-2013 17:51 |
Nepa |
Updated [Operator, Source] |
30-Apr-2018 18:48 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
09-Jun-2019 20:06 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Cn, Source, Narrative] |
19-May-2024 10:56 |
Nepa |
Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator] |