ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 16203
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| Date: | Tuesday 15 October 1940 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Westland Lysander Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 208 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | L4717 |
| MSN: | RG-F |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Giarabub, Butnan, Cyrenaican Desert -
 Libya
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
Westland Lysander Mk.I L4717 (RG-F) 208 Squadron, RAF. Written off (damaged beyond repair) when Shot down by fighters over Giarabub, Butnan, Cyrenaican Desert, Libya. According to a article in "Flypast" magazine (March 2013):
"Lysanders were very vulnerable to Italian fighters, and 208 Squadron suffered its first casualties on October 15 1940, when Pilot Officer Druce took off for a recce over Giarabub, deep in Lybia's Cyrenaicen Desert. He was spotted at low altitude by three Fiat CR.42s of 92 Sqaudriglia; all three attacked the hapless Lysander, and, eventually, Tenente Ranieri Piccolomini delivered the fatal blow. The Lysander hit the ground and blew up killing the crew".
Giarabub is an oasis in the Libyan Desert, 200 miles (320 km) south of Bardia and 40 miles (65 km) west of the border with Egypt at approximate Coordinates: 29°44′33″N 24°31′01″E.
Only one of the crew of Lysander was named: Pilot Officer David Mervyn Boughey Druce (RAF 72022) killed in action 15 October 1940, buried at Halfaya Sollum War Cemetery in Egypt
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-L9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978)
2. Flypast Magazine March 2003 page 22
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2116020/druce,-david-mervyn-boughey/
4. http://www.211squadron.org/el_cooper.html
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Giarabub
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 21-Mar-2008 03:18 | JINX | Added |
| 23-Jan-2012 04:54 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Phase, Source] |
| 03-Aug-2013 23:03 | JINX | Updated [Operator, Source] |
| 03-Jun-2015 08:21 | Yelush | Updated [Operator] |
| 04-Sep-2019 19:28 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 04-Sep-2019 19:29 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 04-Sep-2019 19:30 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
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