Date:	Friday 31 May 1940
Time:	19:20
Type:	Westland Lysander Mk II
Owner/operator:	16 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L4793
MSN:	KJ-V
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Location:	English Channel, between Dunkirk and Nieuport, Pas de Calais -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Lympne, Lympne, Kent (LYM/EGMK)
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Westland Lysander Mk.II L4793 (KJ-V) 16 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) 31 May 1940 when shot down over Dunkerque, France. Both crew killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/705): "Lysander L4793 failed to return from air operations over Dunkirk, France, 31 May 1940. Temporary Sergeant A Beard and Pilot Officer G W V Biden: missing presumed dead"

Took off from RAF Lympne, Kent. Mission: Tactical Reconnaisance over the Dunkirk-Calais sector, tasked to search for bombing targets and observation of own troops. Aircraft failed to return. Shot down by Major Freiherr von Berg (Gruppenkommandeur) of Stab III./JG26 and crashed in Channel between Dunkirk and Nieuport (Nieuwpoort) 19.20 hrs.

Crew of Lysander L4793:
Pilot Officer Guy William Vernon Biden, RAF 77778, posted 31/05/1940, as missing presumed killed
Sergeant Alfred Beard, RAF 628185, age 18, posted 31/05/1940, as missing presumed killed

As no trace of Lysander L4793 or the crew of two was ever found, they are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 30
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/705: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502482
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1529777/biden,-guy-william-vernon/
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1083622/beard,-alfred/
5. Peter D. Cornwell, The Battle of France, Then and Now, 2008
6. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/16_squadron.html#3105
7.
8.
9.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-May-2011 14:37	ThW	Added
19-Jun-2013 10:55	Nepa	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Narrative]
30-Sep-2015 05:42	sandman56	Updated [Narrative]
08-Apr-2019 20:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Date, Time, Registration, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
01-Sep-2019 21:44	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Date, Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative]
02-Sep-2019 08:45	stehlík49	Updated [Operator]