ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 176741
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| Date: | Wednesday 15 May 1940 |
| Time: | 07:30 LT |
| Type: |  Hawker Hurricane Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 85 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | P2701 |
| MSN: | VY-D |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Poix-du-Nord, Nord Department, Hauts-de-France -
 France
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Le Cateau/Cambrai Sector |
On 15.05.1940 85 Squadron Hawker Hurricane Mk.1 P2701 (VY-D) on a mission in the Lille-Seclin area was shot down in combat with Bf110s of I./ZG26 during offensive patrol between Le Cateau and Cambrai 7.30 a.m. Flying Officer D.H. Allen missing. According to the official Air Ministry file on the incident (File AIR 81/341): "Flying Officer D H Allen: missing presumed dead; Hurricane P2701 shot down over Gembloux, Belgium, 15 May 1940".
Note that the official location of the loss of this Hurricane (Gembloux, Belgium) is quite some distance (93 km away) - and in another country (Poix-du-Nord, France) - from later unofficial reports.
Aircraft was a write-off. His body was rescued from the wreckage by locals before being buried in an unnamed grave in the village of Pox-de-Nord near the Belgian border, resulting in a mentioning on the Runnymede Memorial as missing, presumed killed.
Crew:
Flying Officer (39840) Derek Hurlstone Allen DFC (pilot) RAF (aged 20) - killed
It was not for 71 years - until July 2012 - that the unidentified body of an RAF pilot killed on or about that day and on or about that date was formally identified as F/O Allen, quote:
"Resting place of RAF Hurricane pilot identified after 71 years
Last week, members of the airman’s family were at his graveside in the quiet village of Poix-du-Nord, northern France, to dedicate a new headstone. Flying Officer Derek Allen DFC joined the Royal Air Force in 1937 aged just 19 years old.
Posted to 85 Squadron he found himself flying in the skies over northern France, locked in battle with the German Luftwaffe during May 1940. He was credited with four outright and three shared enemy ‘kills’ before his Hurricane aircraft was shot down over farmland on 18 May 1940.
His body was never officially recovered. He was listed as missing, presumed dead, and posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 31 May 1940.
Recent research by the Air Historical Branch discovered records that proved the young pilot had been removed from the aircraft wreckage by locals. Buried as an ‘unknown airman’ in their village cemetery, Flying Officer Allen remained nameless for 71 years.
But, last week, his younger brother Richard Allen, now in his eighties, led three generations of the family to where Flying Officer Allen now lies" (see link #4 for the full story)
Sources:
1. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/341: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502335
2. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1082690/allen,-derek-hurlstone/
3. https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/air-force-operations/airplanes-allies-and-axis-lost/hurricane/106515-4156486.html
4. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/resting-place-of-raf-hurricane-pilot-identified-after-71-years
5. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/85_squadron.html#1505
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_aces_from_the_United_Kingdom
7. http://www.unithistories.com/officers/raf_officers_a01.html
8. https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/78655/Allen-Derek-Hurlstone.htm
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 10 December 1940 | V6674 | 85 Sqn RAF | 1 | Tilbury Docks, Essex, England |  |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Jun-2015 12:18 | Thomas Fuk | Added |
| 22-Apr-2019 20:54 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Time, Registration, Cn, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 07-Jul-2019 01:46 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date, Source, Narrative] |
| 07-Jul-2019 01:46 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
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