Date:	Thursday 9 November 1939
Time:
Type:	Hawker Hurricane Mk I
Owner/operator:	3 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L1907
MSN:	QO-?
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North Sea, off Coast of Suffolk, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Manston, Kent
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Hawker Hurricane L1907: Written off (destroyed) 09/11/1939 when crashed into the North Sea while on patrol. Officially recorded as "P/O G B Mitchell: report of death; Hurricane L1907 failed to return from air operations, 9 November 1939". Aircraft took off from RAF Manston, Kent, and headed north over the Thames Estuary towards the Suffolk coast en route for a patrol off Felixstowe and Ipswich.

Pilot initially posted as MIA ("Missing In Action") but confirmed as KIA ("Killed in Action") when body found and recovered at month later, having drifted across the North Sea.

Aircraft Movement card states "Aircraft lost at Sea 09-11-39" and Squadron Operations Record Book Lists "G.B.Mitchell flying Hurricane L1907 on Patrol over the Sea (missing) 09/11/1939".
Crew:
P/O (40249) Geoffrey Buller MITCHELL (pilot) RAF killed.
His body was washed up at Texel, Netherlands on 2-12-1939. His death was determined to be due to drowning and he was buried initially on 5-12-1939 in the Civil Cemetary at Den Burg/Texel (but reburied in 1949 in Military Section)

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-N9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1983)
2. http://www.defensie.nl/media/verliesregister_1939_tcm46-154742.pdf
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/43: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14142126
4. 3 Squadron RAF ORB (Air Ministry Form 540) November 1939: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8406493
5. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=30534
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2620026/mitchell,-geoffrey-buller/
7. https://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/rs.php?aircraft=&sglo=T0005A&date=&location=&pn=&unit=&name=&cemetry=&airforce=&target=&area=&airfield=

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
06-Mar-2008 01:54	JINX	Added
02-Aug-2011 13:14	rvargast17	Updated [Date, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative]
03-Jan-2012 14:20	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Country]
09-Aug-2013 00:27	JINX	Updated [Operator, Narrative]
01-May-2015 14:17	Quentin	Updated [Operator]
26-Apr-2018 16:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
03-Oct-2018 07:04	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
03-Jun-2019 23:05	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
19-Oct-2019 18:26	TigerTimon	Updated [Time, Cn, Other fatalities, Source]
12-Apr-2024 10:30	Nepa	Updated [Time, Cn, Location, Narrative, Operator]