Date:	Tuesday 29 August 1944
Time:	16:07 LT
Type:	Boulton Paul Defiant TT Mk III
Owner/operator:	691 Sqn RAF
Registration:	N3434
MSN:	379
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Sparrows Quay, Cattewater Wharf, Plymouth, Devon -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Robrorough, Plymouth, Devon
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Boulton Paul Defiant N3434, 691 (AACU) Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) 29 August 1944 when Hit ships balloon cable while on naval co-operation exercise, balloon was in cloud. Aircraft crashed at Sparrows Quay, Cattewater Wharf, Plymouth, Devon, both crew killed.

According to one source (see link #2):

"Unknown Cattewater / Boulton Paul Defiant (N3434)
Date 29th August 1944?
Cattewater, Sparrows Quay
Found, possibly Boulton Paul Defiant TT Mk III (N3434)
Remains of an aircraft thought to be WWII vintage was found on the foreshore at Sparrows Quay, in the Cattewater, in the River Plym, on the east side of Plymouth. One report says that on 29th August 1944, the Boulton Paul Defiant TT Mk III (N3434) from 691 Squadron Anti-Aircraft Cooperation Unit RAF hit a ship’s barrage balloon cable while on naval co-operation exercise because the balloon was hidden in cloud. Roland Griffith kindly provided information from the squadron Operational Record Book which states:

'Low cloud with rain and drizzle barred all flying until late afternoon, when an appreciable improvement in the weather took place. F/Sgt Fryer with LAC Buckland and as T.T.O. took off at 16:00 hrs, to give a sortie at Wembury, but struck a balloon cable on the edge of Plymouth at 16:07 hrs. The aircraft crashed, both occupants being killed'.

The pilot, P/O Victor James Fryer (1324723) and drogue operator LAC William Henry Buckland (1360425) were killed in the crash. Both bodies were recovered, Fryer is buried at Chingford Mount Cemetery and Buckland is buried in Swindon. The location of the crash has been given as Cattewater Wharf, Plymouth".

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Brtiain, 1977 p 10)
2. http://www.shipsproject.org/Wrecks/Wk_Ac_Other.html
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/2215 - 691 squadron ORB 1/12/1943 to 31/12/1945: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2504854
4. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2733796/victor-james-fryer/
5. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2710280/william-henry-buckland/
6. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=15813
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._691_Squadron_RAF
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattewater

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
04-Feb-2008 13:51	JINX	Added
18-Jan-2012 15:23	Nepa	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]