Date:	Tuesday 9 July 1940
Time:	17:20
Type:	Lockheed Hudson Mk I
Owner/operator:	233 Sqn RAF
Registration:	N7377
MSN:	ZS-J
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North Sea, off Shetland Islands, Scotland -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Sumburgh, Shetland Islands
Destination airport:	RAF Sumburgh, Shetland Islands

Narrative:
Lockheed Hudson Mk.I N7377 (ZS-J) 233 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from a patrol over the North Sea off Norway. All four crew killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/1063): "Hudson N7377 in air operations over the North Sea, 9 July 1940. Sergeant R G Ireland, Sergeant D C Sinclair, Pilot Officer R M Buchanan and Pilot Officer J E Ewing: missing presumed dead"

Airborne from RAF Sumburgh, Shetland Islands at 15 34 hours of 9 July 1940. Failed to return from a routine patrol. It is believed that this Hudson was shot down by Luftwaffe "ace" Gordon Max "Mac" Gollob (1912-1987). According to the relevant part of Gollob's biography for 9 July 1940, he shot down two aircraft - a Short Sunderland and a Lockheed Hudson - with the loss of 14 crew (10 in the Sunderland, four in the Hudson):

"At 14:47 on 9 July 1940, Gollob intercepted and shot down Short Sunderland flying boat "Y" (N6133) from No. 201 Squadron. The Sunderland, piloted by Flight Lieutenant J.D. Middleton, was on patrol off Norway and crashed 140 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Sumburgh Head. That same day at 17:20, Gollob, together with Oberfeldwebel (Staff Sergeant) Herbert Schob and Oberleutnant Gerhard Böhmel, shot down a patrolling Lockheed Hudson reconnaissance aircraft "J" (N7377) from No. 233 Squadron off Shetland". No survivors among the crew of four

Crew of Hudson N7377:
Sergeant Robert Glenday Ireland, (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) RAF 529709
Sergeant Donald Clifford Sinclair (Observer), RAF 615825
Pilot Officer Robert Munro Buchanan, RAF 42556 (Pilot, Canadian)
Pilot Officer Loris Jardine Ernest Ewing MiD RAF 41274 (Pilot, New Zealander)

As no trace of Hudson N7377 or its crew of four was ever found, they are Commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1977)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/1063
3. Ross McNeill, 'Coastal Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 1 (1939-1941)'
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1800921/ireland,-robert-glenday/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1807212/sinclair,-donald-clifford/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1530746/buchanan,-robert-munro/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1269763/ewing,-loris-jardine-ernest/
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Gollob#Invasion_of_Norway_and_Battle_of_Britain
9. http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C23692
10. https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/loris-jardine-ernest-ewing
11. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15246569/robert-munro-buchanan
12. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/1530746
13. Donnelly, Larry (2004). The Other Few: The Contribution Made by Bomber and Coastal Aircrew to the Winning of the Battle of Britain. Walton on Thames, UK: Red Kite/Air Research. ISBN 978-0-9546201-2-7.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
10-Oct-2019 22:37	Dr. John Smith	Added
11-Oct-2019 21:40	juza7	Updated [Operator]