ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 72683
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| Date: | Friday 9 July 1943 |
| Time: | 17:25 |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito NF Mk XII |
| Owner/operator: | 85 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | HK172 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | North Downs, Boxley near Maidstone, Kent, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF West Malling, Kent |
Mosquito HK172: Took off at 17:00 hrs for intercept an enemy raider. 09/07/1943
At 17:19 hrs they made contact with the enemy aircraft. The Mosquito was about 1 mile behind the raider at around 6000 ft. Just after this both aircraft were lost from the plotters. Witnesses in the Boxley area heard an aircraft coming up from the south in cloud. Anti aircraft guns to the north opened fire and the shells appeared to be bursting directly over Boxley - 2 - 3000 yards ahead of the aircraft.
Further witnesses heard a burst of cannon fire and pilots as far away as RAF Biggin Hill also reported cannon fire. Very shortly after this "zooming" noises were heard and the Mosquito broke cloud in small pieces. The main wreckage crashed near Boxley and burst into flames whilst the smaller parts were spread out over a half a mile. Both the crew were killed in the crash at 19:25 hrs. 09/07/1943.
At the same time a second aircraft which sounded like it was in difficulties and soon after a Dornier 217 crashed in a vertical high dive at Bicknor, some 5 miles east of Boxley. The weather at the time was poor with low cloud.
The AA guns tried to claim the Dornier but later it was established that the Mosquito had fired its cannons during the engagement and the squadron claimed the kill.
It had been decided by the Air Accident Investigators that the probable cause was overstressing of the airframe causing structural failure during a dive following loss of control. There was no evidence that enemy action was the direct cause of the loss of control but the possibility remains that the pilot had to take violent action to avoid overtaking the enemy aircraft or to clear portions of it.
The primary failure occurred in the wings under conditions of excessive loading and that there is no evidence that any of the detached parts had been weakened or damaged either by enemy action or indeed gun fire from the ground.
Crew:
F/Lt (61056) John Peter Marley LINTOTT DFC (pilot) RAF - Killed
P/O (145.494) George Grevile GILLING - LAX DFC (obs) RAFVR - Killed
Sources:
1.http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH98%20prodn%20list.txtt
2.ORB 85 Sqdn RAF
3.http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php.
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Feb-2010 01:25 | NePa | Added |
| 16-Nov-2010 15:16 | Nepa | Updated [Time, Location] |
| 03-Jul-2013 07:51 | Nepa | Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 08-Jun-2014 12:14 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Departure airport, Source] |
| 02-Sep-2014 05:35 | Siczak | Updated [Location, Narrative] |
| 27-Jul-2015 19:08 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Narrative] |
| 03-Mar-2016 09:20 | Next | Updated [Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 25-Mar-2019 10:12 | Nepa | Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator] |
| 08-Jan-2022 18:54 | Nepa | Updated [Source, Narrative, Operator] |
| 19-Aug-2022 22:15 | Nepa | Updated [Source, Operator] |
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